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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345278">Lions and Lambs</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyrsineMezzo/pseuds/MyrsineMezzo'>MyrsineMezzo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Alex Stern - Leigh Bardugo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Dark Academia, Definitely at the smut now, Eventual Smut, F/M, Heavy on the academia, Mercy and Lauren are in this too, Slow Burn, This is going to be a long one</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:09:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>69,217</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28345278</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyrsineMezzo/pseuds/MyrsineMezzo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex Stern returns to Yale for her second year determined to get Darlington back from whatever hell he’s been sucked into. As if that weren't enough, a new threat to the Houses of the Veil seems to be arising that might tear everything apart, leaving Alex caught in the middle.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Darlington/Alex Stern</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>60</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I couldn't wait for more Darlington, Alex, North, and Dawes, so here's my take on a post-Ninth House adventure. All credit goes to Leigh Bardugo for these amazing characters. And a special thank you to ink_drunk for beta-reading. (If you haven’t read The Road to Hell, be sure to read it because it’s amazing!!) This is going to be one of the longest fics I've ever written and will be filled with adventure and smut because I am a sucker for as much Darlingstern as humanly possible. This was my NaNoWriMo project, so it's already half written, and I'll be trying to edit and upload a chapter a week. Thanks for reading :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tuesday, September 14th.</p>
<p>She’d been guilty of it once or twice already in her relatively short life, but Alex Stern felt like committing murder. Again.</p>
<p>Gritting her teeth, she stared straight ahead at the ground in front of her and tried to look inconspicuous as she walked the streets of New Haven. The rain fell in a steady patter on her chin-length black hair, and she could just see the glimmering droplets glow as they fell past the street lamps turning on in the dusky gloom. It wasn’t even officially autumn yet, but the chill made her wish she’d grabbed a hat or at least an umbrella from her dorm room. </p>
<p>By all rights, she should have been curled up on the window seat at the house on Orange reading summoning spells alongside Dawes. Either that or working on the homework her professors had assigned for the third week of classes. Instead, she was farther afield from the Yale campus than she’d been in months even if it technically wasn’t that far from the New Haven Green.</p>
<p>The fact that she was slouching through the rain on a cold September day was all Michelle Alameddine’s fault. The woman had left a note on the desk in Alex’s room at Il Bastone. The only thing besides the hound stamp on the Lethe stationery was an address and a time. Alex didn’t appreciate the cryptic tone, and she sure as hell didn’t appreciate the vague command that she trek to the designated location on George Street. </p>
<p>She’d wandered down Orange as far as she could go, and the thought crossed her mind as she walked through the downtown area that perhaps she was being too hasty. Maybe Michelle wanted her to meet at an occult shop or someplace where they could get supplies for the ceremony to rescue Darlington from whatever hell dimension he’d been sucked into. Michelle had joined Alex and Dawes in planning and scheming to get their Virgil back for three months now, after all.</p>
<p>Alex didn’t doubt her interest in rescuing Darlington, and Michelle had her uses. But her help seemed to be slowing the process down to an irritating degree. Where Alex and even Dawes wanted to run pell-mell towards an interdimensional rescue attempt, Michelle kept putting on the brakes. She was overly concerned with safety and protocol as far as Alex was concerned. Dawes tended to accept the older woman’s cautioning, but even the mild-mannered and overly-paranoid Oculus was starting to seem a little pissed off about it.</p>
<p>A cold breeze swirled around Alex’s body, weaving its way through the clusters of people surrounding her on all sides. It was all grey skies above her and a monochromatic palette of plush grey sweaters and charcoal coats on the people around her. Ironically, it was the ever-present Grays who stood out in their bright colors and strange, anachronistic looks. It was the annual Fall Restaurant Week according to Mercy who tended to know all the events of one sort or another going on near campus. The Grays seemed to be just as excited for the festival, and they populated the street corners, shop windows, and sidewalks, trailing after the living like bloodhounds as they popped in and out of the different shops.</p>
<p>The Grays’ presence was no longer the brief sightings and lurkings Alex had grown used to from bearing witness to them her entire life. After reaching out to them to help save her skin the previous Spring, she was up close and personal with the dead to a degree she never would have imagined possible. Now, she tried her best to ignore them and lose herself in the sound playing through her headphones. The music was meant to drown out the Grays’ incessant chatter that only added to the swirl of noise from everyone else who clogged the crosswalk.</p>
<p>Dodging a couple with a young kid in tow, she narrowly avoided making eye-contact with a Gray named Rachel Mulligan in green hot pants and roller skates. Rachel had introduced herself as soon as Alex started seeing the dead in her new full-on sound and technicolor format. The ghost was now tapping her fingers obsessively against her caved-in rib cage and looked like she wanted to catch Alex’s attention. Alex wasn’t about to let her have it. The Grays might pester her for idle chit-chat on campus while she was in the bathroom or walking between classes, but she drew the line at having what would look like a conversation with nothing but thin air amidst a crowd this large. </p>
<p>“We are dust and shadows,” she muttered, and Rachel quickly skated past and out of her range of vision with a meek expression on her face. Nothing like a few death words to keep the Grays moving along. And thank god the words still worked or she would have been shoving her way through the dead every minute of every day now that they were connected to her. It wasn’t the same depth of connection between her and North, but it was bad enough. Grays were often starved for attention, and Alex seemed to be their favorite spark of warmth to circle around like moths to a flame.</p>
<p>Now that she was thinking about North, Alex couldn’t seem to stop wondering where the ghost had taken off to. She hadn’t seen him in three months and wondered if he was ever going to deign to show up again. Surely he would. He was too active in the world of the living to give in to whatever waited on the other side. </p>
<p>At least Alex thought so.</p>
<p>Maybe he needed time to recover after his beloved Daisy had been ripped to shreds and pulled across into the other side of the Veil. Alex couldn’t really blame him for that. It wasn’t like she missed him or anything. But she remembered standing in the mud and water of the Other Side talking to North and she remembered his irritated expression when he would hover on the edges of her vision trying to capture her attention. And she realized she did miss him.</p>
<p>Alex Stern missed a fucking Gray. Would wonders never cease. </p>
<p>She tried to push the sentimental thought out of her mind. North was useful. That was all. He had been a means to an end—or rather a way to avoid her own end. Now he was gone and good riddance. But the melancholy feeling wouldn’t quite leave her.</p>
<p>Determined to rid herself of any lingering images of North, she purposefully remembered the feeling of him climbing so easily into her body when he’d helped her resist Sandow. The thought made her shudder. God help her, she could go the rest of her life without moving her soul around to make room for a Gray to ride along with her. It wasn’t like they were clamoring to crawl inside her like a clown car, but just knowing that they could do it and the way some of them looked at her with barely-disguised yearning made Alex nervous. </p>
<p>As if thinking of Grays made them appear, she saw a Gray in a black jacket leaning against a streetlamp–-and Alex did a double-take so big that it had the person next to her looking in that direction as well.</p>
<p>She could have sworn it was Darlington. </p>
<p>But when she looked back, there was nothing there. It wasn’t the first time it had happened, and she would have been sure he was lurking around if she wasn’t equally sure that he was in hell. Alex sighed. She must have been seeing what she wanted to see. It was probably because she was meeting Michelle and they were going to talk about the Darlington situation. The same thing used to happen where she’d see a blonde girl and think it was Hellie for a minute. That had slowly changed as her brain adjusted to the fact that her friend was gone. She felt like she’d finally managed to let Hellie go as she should, keeping the memory of her warm and bright. </p>
<p>It was different on the Darlington front, though, and it seemed like she was seeing him more over the past month than ever before. She could probably chalk that up to all the mental space he was taking up in her head. Maybe it was guilt, but she even dreamed about him on a near-constant basis, and what had once been stress dreams had transitioned into something…quite different lately.</p>
<p>By the time she’d pulled herself back into the moment and out of her thoughts, Alex realized she’d arrived at the correct block. The storefronts seemed to be split between mundane businesses like vacuum repair shops and what looked like a used bookshop with a large plate glass window whose shades were drawn. The address matched the one on the Lethe stationary, and Alex read the sign over the black-painted wood door: The Rising Star.</p>
<p>She took a breath, feeling her irritation burning low in her stomach as she pushed the door open. Once inside, she looked around and took in what must have been a thirty-something hipster’s wet dream. The warm glow of the overhead bare bulbs lit up a blonde wood countertop where two baristas made drinks. Small tables filled the rest of the floor while every inch of the walls’ shelving was crammed to the gills with a variety of what looked to be used paperback books. Canvases painted with abstract designs in primary colors hung on what little wall space remained. It smelled like coffee grounds and musty pages, and she realized she didn’t hate it.</p>
<p>If it wasn’t so far from campus, Alex would have considered doing her homework here. It had the perfect college town vibe to it, although it was still filled with people who looked like they were from New Haven itself.</p>
<p>“Alex.”</p>
<p>She turned towards the sound of her name that cut just over the clink of cups and the hum of some indie rock band on the speakers. Michelle sat at a counter next to the window that faced out onto the street. She looked as well put together as she always did, her curling hair brushed into thick waves. Her skin looked rich and dark against a cream-colored sweater dress that hit at her knees where it was met by sleek black leather knee boots. Everything about her said style and money. </p>
<p>Alex wasn’t ashamed to admit she’d googled the other woman to see what came up. She’d managed to track down that Michelle’s mother was a well-respected lawyer and her father might have been either an author or an antique restoration specialist. Michelle herself had taken the semester off from Columbia claiming a family emergency, which was a fine excuse thanks to Darlington’s situation and how close they’d been. Alex didn’t know where exactly she was staying in town, but Dawes had mentioned a condo in a fashionable neighborhood which sounded about right.</p>
<p>“Can I get you a coffee?” Michelle asked, watching as Alex threw her bag onto the seat opposite hers.</p>
<p>“No thanks. I’ll get it. Watch my stuff for me?” Alex asked, and Michelle nodded.</p>
<p>The coffee was cheap, so Alex ordered a to-go cup instead of one of the fancier turmeric or Earl Grey-lavender lattes. She still couldn’t quite break the habit of wondering if and when the money would run out. Her financial situation lately still seemed too good to be true. Dean Cartwright, who was acting as the new Dean Sandow, had set her up with a stipend to cover most of her expenses. That generosity probably had something to do with the fact that her predecessor had gotten a Lethe member eaten by a hell beast. Alex had splurged on a few things at first like a new bag and some clothes to replace the wardrobe she’d systematically destroyed the previous year, but now she was back to hoarding her money like a dragon sitting on top of its gold. At least she could tip well now, and the barista gave her a smile when she dropped a few dollars into the jar.</p>
<p>When she’d returned to her seat across from Michelle, Alex looked around the room at the chatting and industriously-typing patrons and wondered what it would be like to be as carefree as they all seemed to be. She, on the other hand, was wondering what the hell they were doing hanging out while they should be working on getting Darlington back. Alex knew she probably sounded like a broken record from Michelle’s perspective, but the man was in hell for fuck’s sake. She wasn’t here to get to know Michelle or trudge across town when she had better things to do like finding a way to bring Darlington home.</p>
<p>Michelle took a long sip of her coffee and watched Alex, who was now tapping her fingers impatiently on the table. </p>
<p>“So,” she began. “I hear Scroll and Key are petitioning to get back the remaining portal tablets we confiscated after the Tara Hutchins fiasco.”</p>
<p>Alex snorted. “Whatever. They just want them back to try to replicate whatever she did to get them to work so well. Scroll and Key can stick it and do their portaling the old-fashioned way. Where did the tabs end up, anyway?” she asked idly, although the effect was ruined by her jitteriness.</p>
<p>Michelle raised an eyebrow. “They’re back at Il Bastone, which you know full well. And they’re going to stay there.”</p>
<p>“We should use them,” Alex insisted, reverting to an old argument. “If they can help us get Darlington back, we should at least see what they can do. If they work, we won’t need to worry about Scroll and Key’s help. They aren’t going to be very willing to help if we tell them we want to open a door to a hell dimension and rescue a demon.”</p>
<p>“Leave Scroll and Key to me,” Michelle with the calm authority that always made Alex grind her teeth.</p>
<p>“Fine,” she conceded. “As long as they’re ready when we need them. We’re due to get the ritual started on Friday, and we’ve put it off long enough.”</p>
<p>“Alex. We’re opening a door to hell, not taking a midnight run to Taco Bell. There’s no need to rush things. Danny’s not going anywhere. If he’s a demon, then we should know exactly what we’re getting into if we do pull him over to this side.”</p>
<p>“If?” Alex demanded. “When.”</p>
<p>Michelle sighed. “The new moon comes around every month. If we wait for Halloween next month, it might make the casting even stronger and we could have a better shot at a containment circle holding.”</p>
<p>Alex slumped back in her chair. Of course she wanted to put it off again. “Might. Could. All I know is Darlington is waiting and I promised to get him out.” Her hands clenched into fists. “Like I said, we’ve put this off long enough. If you don’t want in with me and Dawes, just pull out now.”</p>
<p>Michelle narrowed her eyes. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m not leaving you and Pamela to summon a demon alone, and when we do this we’re going to be fully prepared.”</p>
<p>“Fine.” Alex knew she sounded petulant, but she didn’t particularly care at this point. “So what else did you want to talk about?”</p>
<p>Michelle seemed to compose herself and smiled once more. “I’m filling in as Virgil, so part of my job is to make sure you keep on track with everything else at the school.”</p>
<p>“You seriously want to talk to me about school?” Alex groaned. “It’s like the first real week of classes. I’m not some teenager with a bad report card, Michelle.”</p>
<p>“No, you’re a girl who didn’t even make it <i>through</i> high school. I just want to know what you’re doing to stay academically safe this year, that’s all. Have you met with your advisor.”</p>
<p>Alex knew she looked cagey on that subject. “More or less.”</p>
<p>“Do you even know who your advisor is?”</p>
<p>“Of course I do. His name’s…Aidan something. Dean Cartwright set me up with him last month.”</p>
<p>Michelle’s smile lit up. “Aidan Grosvenor? He was my advisor. He’ll be great for you, and he’s very sympathetic about Lethe duties. What classes did he advise you to take?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know,” Alex shrugged. “Things I hopefully won’t fail.” She took in Michelle’s expectant face. “Fine. African Religions, History of Spiritualism, and a South American Art class.” </p>
<p>“When do you meet with Aidan next?”</p>
<p>Hopefully never, Alex thought to herself. They’d corresponded and chosen her classes over email after Alex had accidentally missed their appointment while researching demonic behaviors with Dawes.</p>
<p>“Who knows?” she said instead. “I have to meet with Cartwright tomorrow, so she’ll probably badger me into talking to him then. How did he get the gig advising Lethe students, anyway? I thought we were supposed to be a secret from most of the profs.”</p>
<p>“Yes, well, he had a few relatives in one of the Societies at one point in his family’s history. I can’t remember which house, though. I think they were Bonesmen. Anything else interesting going on? How’s your art coming along?”</p>
<p>“It’s fine.” Alex paused. “I won a scholarship a few weeks ago.”</p>
<p>Michelle looked impressed. “Really? That’s great.”</p>
<p>“I guess. I’m supposed to go to some scholarship banquet now, though. Not really looking forward to schmoozing.”</p>
<p>“This is perfect, Alex. I was going to suggest that you needed to start networking.”</p>
<p>“I don’t network,” Alex said flatly.</p>
<p>Michelle huffed impatiently. “Well, you’d better start. You have one scholarship through Lethe that keep you beholden to the Societies. Would it really be so bad to have other options? To have people invested in you?”</p>
<p>Alex had a hard time thinking of a good comeback when she put it like that.</p>
<p>“You need to start thinking about your life after Yale. What is it that you want for yourself? A house, a good job, two kids? What aspirations get you up in the morning?”</p>
<p>The questions sounded way too similar to what Belbalm had asked her last year, but Alex still had the same response. “I want what everybody wants. Safety. Security. To be in control of my own life.” Her eyes narrowed at Michelle’s expression. “Maybe that doesn’t seem very ambitious, but I have a feeling you’ve never had to worry about any of those things.”</p>
<p>“That’s true,” Michelle said. “But if you want safety and security, then you need to establish a network of contacts that don’t have anything to do with ghosts and magic and that have everything to do with what you want for a career and your life in general. Yale will open a lot of doors for you, but you have to know which doors to turn to in the first place not to mention how to knock on them. Nobody is an island.”</p>
<p>“I would be if I could be,” Alex said shortly. And that was mostly true. If you didn’t let people in, then they couldn’t disappear on you, or get close enough to hurt you when they inevitably did disappear. </p>
<p>“That sounds very lonely,” Michelle said, her brows raising. “Maybe you should try the opposite and let more people in instead.” </p>
<p>Alex shook her head. “Thanks for the tip, Alameddine, but I don’t have a good track record with who I let in.” </p>
<p>She thought of Len and Hellie. Ok, she had let one good person in. And look where that had gotten her. It had gotten her all the way to Yale University where she’d been almost murdered several times over. She didn’t even want to think about Darlington and what she’d done or not done to him.</p>
<p>Michelle sighed. “At least take my advice and go to the dinner. See what it gets you to play nice with others.”</p>
<p>Alex rolled her eyes although she appreciated the woman’s point. “Fine. I’ll go to the fucking banquet.”</p>
<p>“I’m glad to hear it. Let me know how it goes.”</p>
<p>“Sure. Anything else you planned to grill me on tonight?”</p>
<p>Michelle sighed. “Nothing at the moment.” She fixed her keen gaze on Alex. “And don’t worry about Darlington. We’ll get him back soon enough and when we’re fully prepared to do so.”</p>
<p>“Sure,” Alex said again, unconvinced. She pulled her still-damp coat back on and stood before grabbing her bag. “See you on Thursday. If only for the Book and Snake ritual.”</p>
<p>“See you then,” Michelle waved slightly.</p>
<p>Alex nodded and walked to the door. Pushing it open, she took in how dark it had become and decided to call for a ride. Just because she could wield the power of a bunch of Grays didn’t mean she had to knowingly put herself in danger, and she could part with a little of her hoard to be warm and dry.</p>
<p>The rain had begun to come down steadily, and everything smelled of wet stone and pavement. People were still milling around with umbrellas, but they were fewer and far between, and the Grays were equally out of sight. When the car pulled up a few minutes later, Alex climbed in before asking to be dropped off on campus at High Street. The driver nodded, and she leaned back in her seat before pulling out her phone and flipping to her recent calls page. She hit a number and then Dawes’ distracted voice came down the line.</p>
<p>“Alex? What is it?”</p>
<p>“I just talked to Michelle,” Alex said without any preamble. “She wants to put off the ritual until next month.”</p>
<p>There was silence for a moment from Dawes. “Well, shit,” she finally said, her voice filled with indignation.</p>
<p>Alex smiled. It wasn’t like Dawes to curse, and she was relieved the other girl felt the same way.</p>
<p>“I think we may need to take matters into our own hands.”</p>
<p>Dawes paused again. “I don’t know, Alex. It’s a big ritual. We’ll need everyone on hand. Did she at least say if Scroll and Key are on board?”</p>
<p>Alex thumped her head against the car’s backseat. “Not exactly. We should just use the tabs. How many do we have, anyway?”</p>
<p>“Five. But we can’t be sure they’ll work.”</p>
<p>“Lance and Tara used them just fine.”</p>
<p>“Well, yes, but it would still be best if we had someone on hand who knows how to close a portal if something goes wrong.”</p>
<p>“Nothing’s going to go wrong. Have a little faith, Dawes.” Alex could practically see Dawes biting her lip, her expression pensive. She played her ace. “Darlington needs us, Pammie.”</p>
<p>“Ok,” Dawes said quietly. I’ll talk to Michelle. Between the two of us, we can make sure everything takes place on Friday.”</p>
<p>“Deal.”</p>
<p>“I’m glad you called. I have a favor to ask you.”</p>
<p>The request surprised Alex. It was usually her asking the favors, not the other way around. “What’s up?”</p>
<p>Dawes said in a rush. “I need to go get our supplies, but it’s in Fairhaven, and I don’t want to go by myself.”</p>
<p>“Our supplies?”</p>
<p>“You know. Graveyard dirt, bones, ash, memento mori. That sort of thing.”</p>
<p>Dawes probably never would have asked back when they’d first met, but they’d become a strange unit where all things work and Darlington was concerned. </p>
<p>“Well, yeah. Of course I’ll come with you. When do you want to go?”</p>
<p>Dawes exhaled a sigh of relief that carried over the connection. “Are you free tomorrow night?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, but I have a thing I have to go to until later at night.”</p>
<p>“That’s okay. The man we’re going to see doesn’t get off work until the graveyard closes.”</p>
<p>“Fun…” Alex looked up. “I gotta go, Dawes. I’ll give you a call tomorrow when I’m done.”</p>
<p>Dawes made a distracted sound as if she’d already begun to drift back to her dissertation notes. “Ok, bye. And thanks.”</p>
<p>Alex felt herself smiling as she got out of the car. She liked predictable, and Dawes seemed to feel the same way. To be fair, she liked Michelle when it came down to it, even if Michelle was bossy and a little condescending. Which, to be fair, that was exactly what Darlington had been. But he had been <i>her</i> Virgil. She wanted him back to hear him dropping his comments and opinions about everything from the school’s architecture to which Mahler symphony had the best orchestration. Not to mention the way he provided her with his never-ending supply of death words and his expertise on the supernatural.</p>
<p>Maybe he wouldn’t be the same, but she had to try to find him. It wasn’t that it was her fault he was gone, exactly. She hadn’t pushed him into the hell mouth. But she hadn’t helped him when it came down to it, either. Surely that would be water under the bridge if she got him back. Besides, Demon Darlington wouldn’t be turning her over to the Lethe board with what he knew about her past. As she swiped her keycard against the door to Jonathan Edwards, she realized that she wasn’t sure if what he would do when he finally saw her would instead be worse.</p>
<p>She climbed to her dorm room on the second floor, double-checking the whiteboard outside the room to make sure she was actually entering the right one. Mercy had drawn a few stick-figures and hearts to represent the roommates along with a “Welcome to 219!!” message. Only darkness greeted her when she opened the door instead of a room full of buzzing voices or muffled music from behind closed bedroom doors.</p>
<p>Alex had forgotten Lauren and Mercy were taking out their new roommate Terry along with his boyfriend. Anna had ditched them for some girls in an acapella group, and Lauren had introduced them to Terry the previous Fall. The theater major hit it off with all them—even Alex—and the remaining trio had decided to get a co-ed room in JE since Vanderbilt had been for first year students. Alex felt bad for missing out on the fun as per usual, but her business with Michelle had taken priority. Now she turned into her room without bothering to turn the lights on and got undressed in the dark before flopping onto her bed. She had a world of dreams to get back to. As she pulled the covers up, she wondered not for the first time when this place had started to feel like home and what she would have to do to make sure it was never taken away.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div><p>The dream started as it always did. </p>
<p>She lay in Darlington’s bed with the velvety darkness surrounding her. His arm around her middle held her close and the tips of his fingers dug into her skin like claws as he whispered in her ear, “I will serve you ‘til the end of days.”</p>
<p>She had been having these dreams since the previous winter, and at first in them she had laughed or pulled away. When that happened, she would wake, coming back to herself in a daze with half-remembered images pulling at the edge of her consciousness like frayed threads before rolling over and going back to sleep.</p>
<p>This time, as in the past few weeks, she lay in his arms and let him hold her. Let his fingertips stroke against her stomach and trace the waistband of her pajama bottoms. When he began to press slow, lazy kisses to the back of her neck, she arched her body to tuck herself closer and writhed against him. This urging made him roll her over onto her back with a low growl of desire. </p>
<p>She always kept her eyes closed in the dreams as if she was Orpheus and if she looked at him he would be gone, vanishing like smoke. Or maybe it was more as if he were Medusa, and the sight of him would turn her to stone. She was never sure which it was when she inevitably woke up.</p>
<p>But she welcomed his touch, and when his mouth met hers, she gave a small, happy sigh. He took advantage of this welcome and slid his tongue into her mouth, stroking it along hers until her sighs became eager gasps. When he pulled back, she found herself saying “Don’t. Don’t stop.”</p>
<p>Instead of heeding her command, his mouth returned to her ear where he said in a low voice full of temptation, “Free me and whatever I am is yours. Free me, and I will give you the entire world.” Then his mouth was on hers once more, and she was lost to the feeling of his hands on her skin as he eased himself on top of her—</p>
<p>Alex jolted up out of bed as the dorm room door crashed open and Lauren’s voice echoed down the suite’s hallway and into the common area. For a moment Alex was unsure where she was. When she finally caught her breath, she lay back on the mattress panting with interrupted lust and cursing the fact that she was a light sleeper. She rolled over after checking the clock and calculating how long it would be before she needed to get her ass up to get ready for her first class. As she closed her eyes once more, she felt almost guilty that her brain kept dredging up images of Darlington doing things he probably wouldn’t want to do in person. Although maybe he did based on the Manuscript debacle. But it was only a dream. She would just have to get him out of hell herself and ask him if he <i>would</i> be interested after all. She smiled at the thought of such boldness as she drifted off for a second time, letting the calm oblivion of sleep rush over her.</p>
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<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Setting up some things in this chapter, so sadly there's no Darlington (or even dream Darlington) in this one. But there are roommates, and I absolutely adore them. Thanks again for reading and encouraging me to play with these characters!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wednesday, September 15th 4:30pm</p><p>The student center buzzed with beginning-of-the-year energy, and Alex soaked it in as she left, dragging a bagful of books behind her. She’d dropped by after her classes to have a tutoring session with Angus, the huffy American Studies major assigned to her by Lethe. She hadn’t really turned to Angus much during last year’s chaotic year from hell. His superior attitude still embarrassed and irritated her as he edited her papers with a red pen and pointed out her lack of compelling evidence in her History of Spiritualism response papers. This year was going to be different, though. She was going to lean on every resource that would keep her at Yale. Finding Darlington was one more step in that direction. </p><p>Darlington had always been the one who knew what to do, and god knew Alex didn’t know what she was doing half the time when it came to Lethe business. She knew they didn’t have any idea of what Demon Darlington was going to be like. But if he was even a tiny bit like the man he used to be, then maybe–-just maybe–-things would go back to the way they were. Then Alex could at least try to keep her head above the waterline.</p><p>When she got back to her room, she found all three of her roommates doing homework and hanging out. Just another cozy Fall semester afternoon in their minds.</p><p>“Alex,” Mercy called out when she closed the door behind her. Come sit with us. We’re about to break out a movie and Terry got a bottle of wine from one of his scene partners.</p><p>Lauren ruffled his brown curls. “You did good,” she said, and Terry laughed lightly at her enthusiasm.</p><p>Alex smiled at them. “Nice. I have to go to a dinner thing in a little while. You can have my share of the wine.”</p><p>After hanging her coat up, Alex entered her room and reached into her closet to pull out the knee-length black dress that had arrived a few days earlier from her mother. It was Alex’s twenty-first birthday the following week, and after opening the box the dress had come in, Alex had sent her mother a text that was a series of question marks. Mira had texted her back, <i>Every girl needs a little black dress!!</i> She pulled on the garment now, guessing that the scholarship dinner would have a dress code. As she zipped it up, she felt the fabric slide along her hips and back. It reminded her of her dream from the night before and the way Darlington’s hands had moved on her skin.</p><p>Her eyes flicked to her sketch pad. She’d pulled it out for the first time in a while that morning to look back over her sketches in hopes that she’d think of something to say to whatever donor had funded her continued existence at Yale. When she’d found herself reaching for a piece of charcoal, she’d followed the impulse before she could stop herself. Her hand lazily drew the profile and the haunted dark eyes of Daniel Arlington as she remembered him just before he’d disappeared. Drawing him had felt a little like running her hands along his face in her mind’s eye. She looked at the sketch now and let the tip of one finger trace the line of his nose and the fullness of his lips in a way she never would have had the nerve to do in real life. </p><p>After a moment, she jerked her hand back. Get a grip, Stern, she thought. Pretty soon you’ll be as bad as Dawes and your roommates when it comes to the guy. Just because you dream about him doesn’t mean you need to fall for him.</p><p>As if she’d conjured their train of thought, Lauren called out from the common area, “What ever happened to your hot cousin? I feel like he should come visit you again. For our sakes at least.”</p><p>Terry perked up at that. ”Alex has a hot cousin?”</p><p>“A very hot cousin,” Mercy confirmed. “Did he ever come back from Spain, or did they refuse to let him leave on account of his hotness? Don’t tell us he graduated.”</p><p>Alex kept her face locked in a steady smile as she rounded the corner into the common area. “Studying abroad kind of fucked up his plans, so he’s off doing some independent study or something in New York.” Dawes had thought up the excuse, and Alex was about to find out if it held water with other people.</p><p>She was relieved when Lauren switched the subject with a low whistle. “Looking good, Alex. You should show off those legs more often.”</p><p>Alex felt her cheeks warming. “Yeah, yeah.”</p><p>Terry stared at her arms and clavicles. “Those are some killer tattoos,” he said in an awed voice.</p><p>Alex looked down. The tattoos had reappeared last Spring just before the fateful encounter with Belbalm and Sandow at the president’s house. No more hiding them. She embraced her markings now as a reminder of who she truly was and what she was willing to do.</p><p>“Can you believe she kept her arms covered for a whole year?” Mercy laughed. “They’re so awesome, I don’t know why you thought we’d judge you for them.”</p><p>“Yeah, well…” Alex trailed off. “I’ve gotta go. Scholarship banquet,” she explained at their curious looks.</p><p>“Nice,” Lauren said. “Eat the food, take the money, then come back here and we’ll hit up the Buttery downstairs.</p><p>Alex nodded and grabbed her black bag and peacoat on the way out. This was it. Movies, sneaking wine, making plans for ice cream. Normal college girl life. This was what it felt like, and she would cling to it with every scrap of willpower she had.</p><p>She had left herself enough time to swing by the Dean’s office to see whatever Cartwright wanted, and as she walked she tilted her face slightly to feel the sun which had returned to light up the campus in a warm, ethereal glow. Once she’d hit College Street, it was only a short walk before she’d arrived at the four-story brick building housing Cartwright’s office as the Dean of the Humanities departments. It looked like an English manor house with its ring of columns holding up a third-story balcony along with its orderly rows of windows.</p><p>Alex swiped her ID at the navy-blue front door and climbed to the second floor before finding herself outside the Dean’s secretary’s office. She took a breath and stuck her head around the open door. Alice, the Dean’s secretary, sat at a desk typing on her computer.</p><p>“Is Dean Cartwright in? She’s expecting me,” Alex said.</p><p>The secretary smiled and pointed to a chair next to her desk.</p><p>“She should be done any minute now. You’re welcome to take a seat while you wait.”</p><p>Alex nodded and sat, although it made her feel as if she were waiting outside the principal’s office to get a dressing-down of some kind. She couldn’t help but fidget as she sat there, because she had a bad feeling this was to talk about her academics. Already.</p><p>All sophomores were supposed to declare their major by the end of sophomore year, and the thought send a mild wave of panic through her. Mercy had dragged her to the Academic Fair a week earlier, and the people sitting around and chatting about departments and careers shouldn’t have intimidated her, but it had. Mercy had taken pity on her after twenty minutes of circling the room and half-heartedly picking up informational flyers.</p><p>“You’ll figure out what you want to do. There’s time. Don’t worry,” she’d said. That was easy for Mercy to say, though. She had already committed to double-majoring in piano and English literature. She had everything figured out. </p><p>The door to the inner sanctum finally opened, and a disgruntled-looking professor stalked out without giving Alex or Alice a second glance. Dean Mary Cartwright stood in the door a moment later, appraising Alex with a cool look and gesturing for her to come in.</p><p>Alex swallowed. Why did this woman make her so nervous? She had faced down ghosts and Wheelwalkers and human murderers and had come out the other side unscathed. This was nothing.</p><p>Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Cartwright didn’t hide what she thought of her. Sure, she was polite, but she wasn’t chummy like Sandow had been. Instead, she looked at Alex like she was weighing her on the academic and personal scales and found her wanting. But it wasn’t like they could dump her on her ass back in Los Angeles. Lethe needed her--now more than ever--so she straightened and walked into the office as if she owned the place. </p><p>Cartwright stood a few inches taller than Alex, and her tailored camel pants and crisp white shirt had the kind of effortless style Michelle would have appreciated. At a gesture from her, Alex hung her coat up next to a sleek motorcycle jacket. The woman gave Alex a dry smile and said, “Apologies for keeping you waiting. Some of the faculty are in a huff over internal politics. The usual tenure negotiations.”</p><p>Alex nodded as if she understood. “Sure. No problem.”</p><p>Cartwright tipped her head towards the other end of the room. “Come in and sit down.”</p><p>The room was mostly decorated in white, but two plush, rose-velvet armchairs sat near a decorative fireplace. The tableau was definitely manufactured to inspire confidences and to convey a “I care about students and faculty as much as I care about administration” vibe. Alex sat and looked expectantly at the dean.</p><p>“Is this about Lethe business?” she asked. </p><p>Cartwright nodded. “Of a sort.” She steepled her fingers and looked at Alex for a moment. “You recently won an arts scholarship. I’d like you to consider rejecting it.”</p><p>Alex blinked. “You what?”</p><p>“Lethe’s board would like you to give it up,” she repeated.</p><p>“Ok, but why?”</p><p>“To be frank, you don’t need it, Miss Stern.”</p><p>“Yeah, but…aren’t those the kinds of things I’m <i>supposed</i> to get? If I was like any other student here, I mean.”</p><p>The Dean pursed her lips. “Lethe is more than willing to fund your education, and we’ve added a significant stipend to your account if you’ll recall.”</p><p>Alex nodded, suddenly very cognizant of what was going on after her conversation with Michelle. “Oh, I get it. You want to keep me on your leash.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t put it that way,” Cartwright said with a chilly smile. “Besides, one of the requirements is that you double major in Art and Art History. Do you really want to tackle such difficult fields? The general Humanities track would be much more suitable.”</p><p>Alex bristled. Ok, so she’d considered doing the General Humanities major anyway because it seemed like the kind of thing you could go for if you didn’t know what exactly you wanted to do. But she didn’t appreciate the insinuation that she was incompetent or dumb. Alex felt her pride prick her into doubling down on accepting the damn money.</p><p>She changed the subject. “How did they even find me, anyway? I didn’t apply for anything.”</p><p>Cartwright sighed as if Alex had disappointed her in not following orders right away. “The donor saw your work among a selection presented by the art faculty and they chose yours as the most promising. Believe me, I was as surprised as you are that you seem to be thriving in one aspect of your academic life here.”</p><p>Alex gritted her teeth. Dean Cartwright was one of the smartest people Alex had ever met. Then again, smart didn’t mean clever. If she’d been devious enough, she would have just let Alex try her hand at Art History and fail at it. Now, Alex was determined to show Cartwright and the entire Lethe board that she didn’t have to be under their thumb if she didn’t want to. She would figure out how to actually keep from failing when that problem presented itself. That would all be a Future Alex problem.</p><p>“Thanks for the advice, but I’m keeping it,” she said with a smile that was more like a baring of teeth.</p><p>Cartwright nodded. “Very well. Just know that if you ever decide to leave Lethe’s employment, there will be no academic assistance. No regular funding, and no money over the summer.”</p><p>That gave Alex pause. What if she failed like she always had without the safety net of Lethe to catch her. There was so much at stake for her now. She’d almost grown accustomed to so many things she now had the potential to lose; like regular meals at the cafeteria, the easy friendship of Lauren and Mercy and Terry, and even her strange newfound comradeship with Dawes.</p><p>“Fine. I’ll keep that in mind. It’s only for one year, anyway. It’s not like I can count on it being there forever”</p><p>The Dean gave a short laugh at that. “No. But a lot can change in one year, Miss Stern. As you well know.”</p><p>Alex stood. “Was that all you wanted from me?”</p><p>“Not quite. I hear you've been avoiding your advisor. He’s waiting outside for you.”</p><p>Alex cursed inwardly. There was no escape this time. “Thanks for the chat,” she said, and stalked over to the coatrack to get her things. </p><p>Outside the office a man who looked to be in his late thirties wearing jeans and a rich teal sweater sat talking to Alice the secretary. He looked up, and stood with a broad smile on seeing Alex.</p><p>“You must be Alex. I’m Professor Grosvenor. Let’s take a walk to my office. I have a few handouts for you.” He smiled even more broadly if that was possible. “We can get to know each other on the way.”</p><p>Alex held in a groan and followed him out the door and to an office on the third floor. As they walked he peppered her with questions, and she tried to keep her answers from being monosyllabic.</p><p>“How was your summer?”</p><p>“Fine.”</p><p>“Did you do anything interesting?”</p><p>“I studied a lot.” Mostly on pulling a demon into the mortal plane, but Alex didn’t think he needed to know that.</p><p>“And what was it like for you at Yale last year?”</p><p>Alex couldn’t even begin to know how to answer that one. “…Exciting?”</p><p>Grosvenor laughed. “Well, that’s good to hear!” The man was so chipper she almost suspected he was hopped up on the kinds of things she used to sell back in Los Angeles. </p><p>He opened the door to his office and entered. “Don’t worry about coming in,” he called back over his shoulder. “This will only take a second.”</p><p>Alex got a peek at a room stuffed to the rafters with books and file cabinets and stacks of papers. Artworks covered the walls that were mostly depictions of monstrous figures or prints of scaled and clawed beings reaching out to men but mostly to women. The other artworks were posters of landscapes bathed in red and populated with grotesque characters. Even she knew they were landscapes of hell after all her studying that summer with Dawes.</p><p>“Is that Bosch?” she asked.</p><p>“Good eye,” he called back from where he stood rifling through one of the stacks of papers.</p><p>“What exactly is it that you teach again?”</p><p>He laughed. “Religious Studies. I specialize in the symbolism of hell across different religions.”</p><p>Interesting.</p><p>He continued. “That’s why I recommended you take the African religions course. Lots of good material on spiritual beliefs in that one. Might come in handy for your work with Lethe.”</p><p>Alex swallowed. Maybe his interest in hell was why Cartwright had assigned her to Grosvenor. Was this a message? Did the dean have an inkling of what she, Michelle, and Dawes intended to do? it wasn’t like they’d be able to keep Darlington’s presence a secret when they got him back. But she was banking on everyone thinking he’d miraculously survived the hellscape. The members of Scroll and Key who had witnessed the demon at Black Elm would probably have suspicions, but they wouldn’t be able to prove anything. Hopefully.</p><p>She cleared her throat, testing the waters. “I’m interested in demonology, myself.”</p><p>Grosvenor perked up like a golden retriever confronted with a shiny new ball. “Really? That’s great. We should talk sometime.”</p><p>“Yeah,” she nodded. “Sounds good.”</p><p>He turned around with what looked like a flyer from the Academic Fair. “I saw this and thought of you. With your particular kind of work for Lethe, it seems like Anthropology would be a good fit for your major. Or Religious Studies,” he tacked on, looking hopeful and grabbing a second flyer from a stack perched on his desk.</p><p>“Thanks,” Alex said, taking the papers from him. “But I might be doing Art History.”</p><p>“Really? That’s unexpected, but I suppose you can dig into those classes over your junior and senior year.”</p><p>“Yeah. Well, thanks,” she said vaguely as she put the papers into her bag.</p><p>“Of course! Feel free to reach out any time. And don’t forget to think over Religious Studies. We’d love to have you,” he called after her as she strode back down the hall towards the staircase. </p><p>Once she’d descended, she stopped in the foyer to snap a picture of herself in her black dress and texted it to her mom, <i>Won a scholarship! Took the chance to wear this. Will call later.</i> Her phone buzzed before she could even get out the door. She looked down at Mira’s excited note. <i>!!! Congratulations! You look great! Write a thank you card for the scholarship!</i> </p><p>Alex couldn’t help but smile at her mom’s enthusiasm. The thought of writing a thank you card was completely foreign to her, but it did seem like the kind of thing Ivy people obsessed with protocol and the façade of good breeding would do.</p><p>She could almost hear Darlington’s voice in her head saying, “Manners, Stern. It’s basic courtesy.” It was the kind of thing the Gentleman of Lethe would bug her about. He had a habit of popping into her mind at every odd moment, no matter how inconvenient. Sometimes it was like the guy had taken up residence inside her skull, making her adjust her actions and emotions based on his advice. She didn’t like it.</p><p>It must have been that feeling in her chest that made her text her mom back with a sigh, <i>Ok. And thanks.</i> A thank you card. God. Who was she and what had she done with Alex Stern? One more way Yale demanded she change, and one more way she was willing to change to fit in. What was the alternative, anyway, besides going back home to California to live with her mother until she got on her own feet? No thank you, she thought as the prospect flitted through her mind.</p><p>Her message went through and Mira followed up with a heart emoji that made Alex smile. Then she got a look at the time.</p><p>“Shit,” she exclaimed. She would have to book it to get to the Divinity School dining hall in time for the banquet. Flinging open the front door, she hurried through.</p><p>And ran smack into Bertram Boyce North.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hi all, I meant to post a chapter last week, but work and two other shorter fics got away from me. Glad to be posting again, and I do intend to do one a week for the next while. Thanks again for reading and for giving me such wonderful encouragement! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wednesday, September 15th, 5:30pm</p><p>“We need to talk,” North said without preamble, his mouth pressed into a thin, serious line.</p><p>Alex gaped at the ghost for a few seconds, then she crossed her arms and said sarcastically, “Jesus, North. No ‘Hi Alex, how’s it going?’ Or ‘Sorry I’ve been gone for three months. Hope nothing came up’?”</p><p>North ignored her. “Something is going on with the other side of the Veil. I came back to tell you about it, but if you would rather abuse me than hear what I have to say, then I will take my leave.”</p><p>“Fine,” Alex said, her curiosity getting the better of her. “But we have to walk and talk at the same time. I have somewhere to be across campus.”</p><p>North inclined his head, and Alex began to speed-walk down the block towards Prospect and the Divinity School.</p><p>“You said there’s something happening on the other side? What kind of something?”</p><p>“There are rustlings…A change in the energy beyond the Veil. It is as if someone or something is trying to build a conduit to the mortal plane.</p><p>“How long has it been going on?” Alex asked with a frown. She herself could be considered a bridge between the land of the dead and the living. Hardly anything good ever came from things crossing over.</p><p>“For some time now,” North responded. “And whatever it is, it is generating a massive amount of force. Have you noticed anything strange here? This town would be the easiest site for a bridge.”</p><p>Alex frowned. “I can’t think of anything like that.” But in the privacy of her own thoughts she wondered if her upcoming rescue mission would be affected by whatever these “rustlings” were. Whatever it was, maybe Darlington could help them figure it out when he was back.</p><p>“Whether it is someone merely experimenting with forces they don’t understand or something more sinister, it would be in your best interests to look into it. Because whatever it is, it will be big, and it will have consequences.”</p><p>“Got it,” Alex said.</p><p>The two walked in silence for a while.</p><p>“Anything else you wanted to talk to me about?” she finally asked to break the silence.</p><p>North cleared his throat. “Are you well? I realize I left you all here for quite some time.”</p><p>“We’re fine.” She paused. “And you don’t seem so bad off. I wasn’t sure if you’d be coming back after everything last Spring.”</p><p>North looked into the distance rather than meeting her gaze. “I needed some time to myself. And to be honest, I needed to try to find Daisy—whatever was left of her.” He cleared his throat again.</p><p>Alex felt awkward to ask it of him, but she needed to know. “What happened to her?”</p><p>“Do you honestly care?” North asked, and there was no hiding the bitterness in his voice.</p><p>“Do I care?” Alex demanded, irritated at his acerbic tone. “Of course I care,” she snapped. “I care if she’s going to come back at some point and try to hijack my body again or at least get revenge on me from the other side somehow.” </p><p>North looks abashed. “I don’t believe that will be a problem. There were only wisps and scraps of Daisy that remained after that evening. She just…drifted away afterwards.”</p><p>Alex couldn’t find it in herself to feel anything but relief at his words. “Did anyone try to come for you since you were her boyfriend and all?”</p><p>North’s smile was more of a grimace than anything else. “I’m afraid they all saw what a fool she had made of me and left me in peace. Besides, my reputation is enough to keep others from trying my patience.”</p><p>“So what are you doing here? Don’t you think you should pass on to whatever else is out there or something?”</p><p>North shook his head, a stuttering gesture as if even the euphemism for death was more than he was comfortable hearing. “No. I am content to remain in the mortal world. There is much about the other side I am unsure of.</p><p>“You’re afraid, then,” Alex said. It wasn’t a question.</p><p>An ugly and slightly inhuman look passed over North’s face that told her he didn’t like her assessment one bit. “I am not afraid. I am simply…not sure of what being undone entails.” He glanced at Alex, and his face had lost that creepy quality it took on when he was angry. “Should you have need of me, all you have to do is call. We are bound in a way I’ve never encountered and don’t expect to ever encounter again.”</p><p>Alex snorted. “Yeah. If you’re hoping to have another ride anytime soon, you can think again.”</p><p>North looked ruffled at that. “I can assure you I had nothing such as that in mind.” He paused. “Although should the opportunity or need present itself, I am always at the ready to assist you.”</p><p>Alex rolled her eyes. “I just bet you are.” A thought occurred to her as they approached the far side of campus. “Now that you mention it, I hope that’s not just an idle offer. Because I may have to take you up on it.”</p><p>“Really?” North looked a little more eager to climb into her body than Alex was comfortable with. “For what purpose would you need my help?”</p><p>“Well, for one thing, you might be useful while we plan Darlington’s rescue.”</p><p>North looked startled. “Rescue? Where has he been after all this time? I could never find him on the other side whenever I searched for him. I looked again before coming here to you.”</p><p>Alex grimaced. “He’s in hell, actually. We’re going to bust him out of some kind of hellscape…dimension…thing.”</p><p>North’s eyes widened so much that his expression would have been comical if he hadn’t looked so aghast. “I would strongly suggest that you not do such a thing. What are you even thinking to wish to attempt it?”</p><p>“He needs us. And he would have done it for me.”</p><p>North turned to face her, bringing her to a halt in front of the Divinity School doors. He reached out as if he would take her arm. “Alex. This is a terrible idea. You don’t know what you might call up out of there. There is a very good reason people do not try to reach over to that place. Or if they do manage it, they come to regret it very quickly.”</p><p>North’s use of her first name startled her, but she brushed his hand away. “Thanks for the advice, North. But my mind’s already made up.” She looked at her watch. “Anyway, it’ll be fine. We’ve been planning this for months. You’ll see. Now, I’ve got to go.” She turned to the door and pulled it open.</p><p>“We’re not done talking about this,” North called out behind her. “You’re making a very foolish mistake.”</p><p>Without turning around, Alex raised her middle finger into the air. She smirked as she heard North’s spluttering sounds behind her. When the sounds cut off abruptly, she turned her head and saw that he’d vanished. Good, she thought. The last thing she needed was someone who was another Michelle putting the brakes on. <i>Worse</i> than another Michelle—someone who didn’t want her to attempt to rescue Darlington at all.</p><p>She shook the interaction from her head and stepped through the doors into the Divinity School entrance. Inside, there was a table with a few undergrads in button-ups and suit pants waiting to hand out name tags. Alex picked hers up and turned to a woman who took her coat. She held onto her bag. It held a few vials of graveyard dirt, and she wasn’t about to leave it behind in the coatroom.</p><p>Entering the Old Refectory, her shoes clacked on the wood floor that was laid out in an intricate herringbone design. Chandeliers sparkled overhead while light music played in the background from an honest-to-god string quartet in the corner. Alex felt more than a little out of her depth as she looked around at the old men dressed in their suits and the women in their conservative sheath dresses. Everyone wore dark hues, so at least Alex didn’t stand out too much, although her tattoos earned her disapproving looks. The reaction actually made her feel more comfortable. You didn’t get as many tattoos as Alex had if you didn’t enjoy sticking it to those who would be snooty about it.</p><p>She took her seat at her assigned table, joining a few other students and their donors who were already engaged in conversation. Alex didn’t mind being left out. It gave her time to think about what she could possibly talk about with her own benefactor. How hard could it be to have a conversation about classes and her (mostly) fake art? And maybe this mystery woman would be a certifiable old cat lady and they could talk about her love of her tabby Mr. Mittens for two hours. She could do this.</p><p>A dean had just stepped to the front of the room to make some opening comments, and Alex was beginning to feel as if she’d been ditched like a girl on prom night when the distinctive clack of heels from a confident stride made her look towards the door. A woman had just entered wearing a black and white dress scattered with sprays of vibrant red poppies that looked like they were blooming in a riot of color across the fabric. Mercy would have killed for her bright-yellow strappy heels and the large square purse in primary red she carried.</p><p>Alex realized she was staring, as were several of the other guests as the woman sauntered towards the seat next to Alex’s. She must have been thirty years the junior of most of the other donors. As she got closer, Alex saw that her blonde hair was pulled up into a chic chignon bun at the base of her neck, and the sole piece of jewelry she wore was a massive emerald ring surrounded by enough diamonds that the piece would have fed Alex for a year back in LA.</p><p>The stranger dropped down next to her in a cloud of perfume and cigarette smoke and looked Alex over. “You look like the artistic type,” she said in the kind of melodic voice that rang like fine china. “Are you Galaxy Stern by any chance?”</p><p>Alex recovered enough to say, “Uh. Yeah? Who are you?”</p><p>“Lavinia Bingham-Holmes,” she said as she held her hand out for Alex to awkwardly take. “Call me Vinia. I’m your scholarship donor.”</p><p>God, sometimes these people’s names made them seem like a parody of each other. Keeping that thought to herself, Alex turned the name over in her mind. “Did you fund something on campus? Your last name sounds familiar.”</p><p>“My family takes part in a great deal of philanthropy,” Vinia said modestly.</p><p>So she was made of money. That explained the clothes and the scholarship funds, Alex thought.</p><p>The dean finally continued with his speech while Vinia casually scanned the room. She began to look increasingly bored. “I wonder if these things are always so dull,” she muttered to Alex as the dean droned on about gratitude and the future leading lights of the university.</p><p>When the dean had finally finished, the waiters in black-and-white formal dress circulated the first course. Alex picked up her water glass to give herself something to do with her hands.</p><p>Vinia continued to look her over and said in a conversational tone, “So, tell me about yourself.”</p><p>Alex shrugged. “Not much to tell. I don’t really do anything very interesting,” she replied. It was an easy lie—one she’d had a lot of practice using along with the dull smile meant to deflect questions.</p><p>“Oh, I doubt that.” Her patron shook her head. “Your art is lovely. Not to mention all the Lethe business.”</p><p>Alex almost spat out the sip of water she’d just taken.</p><p>She forced it down, coughing a little before asking, “Lethe? What’s that?”</p><p>Vinia gave her a long look and a crooked smile. “Don’t bother trying to play dumb. I know all about the Ancient Eight. More than I ever wanted to, in fact.”</p><p>Alex couldn’t help but stare at her again. “How exactly do you know about them?” She paused. “Did your family have members in one of the Societies or something?”</p><p>“A long time ago,” the woman said with a smile that was surprisingly bitter. Her attention snapped back to Alex. “But we can talk about all that over dinner. You should come by my apartment on Friday. It will give us a chance to get to know each other away from all of this,” she gestured around the room.</p><p>“So is that why you awarded me your scholarship? Because of my connection to Lethe?” Something about that sent a creeping sense of disappointment through Alex’s chest for some reason. Maybe she had hoped the award was based on the merit of her work and her talent, not because of what she didn’t even have a choice or any control over like seeing ghosts.</p><p>Vinia shook her head. “No, no. I don’t have anything to do with Lethe, but I did hear you have a special ability when it comes to seeing to the other side of the Veil.”</p><p>Alex gripped her water glass hard enough that she risked snapping the stem. “And who told you that?”</p><p>“I have my sources,” she said with a charming smile. “Regardless, hearing what you can do made me very curious about you.”</p><p>Alex turned her flat, suspicious gaze on Vinia. “And now that you’ve met me?”</p><p>The woman smiled. “Now that I’ve met you, I’m even more convinced that I could be of help to you.” </p><p>The rattler inside of Alex’s chest stirred, and she snorted. “No offense, but I don’t see what helping me would do for you. Or were you planning to tell me you want to do something for me out of the goodness of your heart?” </p><p>Vinia leaned back in her chair and took another sip of wine. “As I said, let’s talk over the details at my place. I can tell you everything you want to know, then.” She tapped her fingernail against the crystal before saying, “I’ll be honest with you, though, Alex. You seem like you could use a mentor. You’ve navigated Yale as well as anyone could expect of you, but you’re playing at a disadvantage. I could teach you how to level the field—introduce you to people who can ease the way into all kinds of situations and all sorts of places. Whatever it is you want out of all of this,” she gestured around her to indicate the campus, “I can show you how to get it.”</p><p>It was as if she could see directly into Alex’s head and her heart. She thought about Vinia’s offer for a minute as she reached for a piece of chocolate torte that appeared at her elbow. She took a bite of it, reveling in the sweet and creamy texture. She didn’t know this woman, but what had Lethe ever done for her other than give her their money and entry into the school? Darlington was the one who had shown her what she could do. It was he who had taught her the death words and the rituals that could keep her safe from the dead. </p><p>Suddenly, she remembered Michelle’s words from the night before about networking and opening doors. Was this the sound of opportunity knocking? Was this what she wanted and needed? She’d never had a mentor before. Not one who hadn’t tried to kill her like Belbalm had, at least.</p><p>Alex played with the stem of her water glass a little more, watching a bead of condensation slip down the side of the glass. She knew a hustle when she saw one, because she herself had run many a hustle. Surely she would recognize whatever this privileged woman would throw her way. What could it hurt to just hear what she had to say, really?</p><p>As if sensing her hesitation, Vinia reached into her purse and withdrew a business card that had her name and number on it in a scrolling font. The back of the card showed an address written in pen. “Here. Come see me if you’re interested in talking and taking control of your future.”</p><p>She slid the card across the space between them, and Alex reached out to take it from her gingerly. With that, the woman stood, smoothing her dress. “I hope I’ll be seeing you on Friday, then. Have a good night, Alex.”</p><p>Alex watched her with equal parts curiosity and mistrust as she walked away and out the door. A moment later, she gathered her own things and headed out. There was no reason to stay.</p><p>Outside, she called campus security for a ride back to her dorm. When she climbed into the car, a girl who must have been a few years younger than her climbed in behind her. She looked familiar. Alex finally placed her as being one of the new recruits to Wolf’s Head, Flora Jimenez.</p><p>“Flora, right?” she asked.</p><p>The other girl looked pleased. “Yeah. You’re Alex Stern. I saw you at the meeting last week.” Her voice grew hushed. “It was so cool! I can’t believe something like that is possible.” </p><p>Alex thought back to the previous week that already seemed ages ago in school time. A senior named Cami Richardson had turned herself into a giant snowy owl and then flown through the campus with a camera strapped to her chest. That would probably seem pretty awesome to a lot of people until they turned back into a human and were still craving mice. </p><p>Flora continued. “Did you see any ghosts during the ceremony?”</p><p>Alex made a noncommittal noise. She didn’t particularly want to talk shop with any of the Society members. Although to be honest, the Greys were a lot more accommodating now, in a way. They were much more present and up close, but they were also more aware of her as a force to be reckoned with. It was the rare Grey that tried to get past her wards during a ceremony now.</p><p>Flora was still talking. “I can’t wait for it to be my turn to change,” she confided.</p><p>Alex couldn’t help asking, “Don’t you think it’s all kind of bizarre. Why did you want to join so bad?” </p><p>“Family legacy,” the girl said with a cocky smile. “And besides, who wouldn’t want to be a part of something magical?” </p><p>“Right,” Alex said. “Who wouldn’t want magic…” Children playing with fire, as their Centurion had put it. That was what they really were.</p><p>When she arrived back at JE, she changed back into jeans and a black henley before calling out to her roommates, “I’ll be back in an hour.”</p><p>“Ok, but hurry up.” Lauren called back. “You owe us some Alex time tonight.”</p><p>Alex smiled. It was nice to have people who actually cared whether they spent time with her or not. Outside, she caught another campus car up Orange Street to just outside the house. The lights from the streetlamps reflected on the car’s windows, sliding by in a way that lulled her into a sense of calm. That calm was disturbed by the vibration of a text coming through. She checked the phone and saw it was from Michelle.</p><p>
  <i>No meeting on Thursday. Book and Snake cancelled. Talk later.</i>
</p><p>Huh, Alex thought. That was weird. The Societies never cancelled. She shrugged it off a moment later, thinking of the free time it would give her to prepare to contact and free Darlington. It was going to happen on Friday, and nothing was going to stop her. He would finally be out of her head and back in the world as he belonged. </p><p>Maybe Dawes would have already talked to Michelle about the Darlington situation. And maybe Michelle had a point about precautions, but there would be no more waiting if Alex had anything to say about it. She made that promise to herself as she walked up the sidewalk to just outside Il Bastone.</p><p>Friday was the day. It was all going to happen. And she would find out if Daniel Tabor Arlington was still at least in part the man she hoped he was.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Screw it. Let's do two chapters this week :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Wednesday September 15th, 9pm</p><p>The three stories of Il Bastone loomed above Alex, but as she opened the door and stepped inside, she could feel the house settling around her as if in a welcoming gesture. The house had warmed up to her to a startling degree. Alex wasn’t sure if it had just taken time or if the fact that she was working to save Darlington had anything to do with it. Maybe a little of both.</p><p>The halls echoed with the ringing of something she’d never expected to hear. Heart’s “Barracuda” with its crunching guitar riff buzzed through the air over the house’s stereo system. The house must have liked it, because it wasn’t shorting out or playing with the volume at all.</p><p>Alex peeked into the parlor, the room that was practically Dawes’ inner sanctum, and found her standing over her notes with her back to Alex. Her head nodded in time to the music as she stared down at the index cards on the floor before bending down and reforming them in a different order.</p><p>Not wanting to scare the bejeezus out of Dawes, Alex cleared her throat once and then twice as the last notes of the song blared to a close. Dawes’ head whipped around and her cheeks pinked when she saw it was Alex.</p><p>“You okay there, Dawes? You seemed really in it for a minute there.”</p><p>“Oh, um, yes,” the other girl said as she pushed the sleeves of her rust-colored sweater up to her elbows.</p><p>“Wouldn’t have pegged you as a classic rock kind of girl. I always thought you were listening to Beethoven or the same kind of shit Darlington liked.”</p><p>Dawes shrugged, still looking embarrassed. “It was my mom’s favorite. And it keeps me focused.”</p><p>“How’s the dissertation going, anyway?”</p><p>“It’s…going,” Dawes said, shaking her head as if to belay her own words. “I think I finally figured out how to tie chapter three’s argument into chapter six.”</p><p>“That’s great,” Alex said. “I think. So when do you want to get going?” She paused. “And where are we going, anyway, that’s got you so worked up?”</p><p>“I’m not ‘worked up.’” Dawes protested. “I just don’t like driving anywhere by myself at night if I don’t have to.”</p><p>Alex raised her hands. “No big deal. Just curious.”</p><p>She waited while the other girl packed up her notecards and stuffed them in her bag. Dawes closed the door behind them and led the way to Darlington’s car parked alongside the curb. Michelle had seen to it that the car had been fixed up after it had been damaged the night of the summoning.</p><p>“It can be a ‘Welcome Home’ present for him,” she’d said. Maybe it was premature to believe they could rescue him and that he would still care about the same things. Neither of them had made any mention of the fact that when Darlington got back, he might not be the same man they’d come to know and care for.</p><p>“If I’m going with you, then I get to drive,” Alex said, holding her hands out for the keys.</p><p>Dawes dropped them into her hand reluctantly. She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “Just…be careful.” She didn’t have to say that caring for Darlington’s car was one of the few things she could do to show she cared for the man himself.</p><p>Alex started the car, and when Dawes’ phone started playing Led Zeppelin when they plugged in the GPS, she only smirked in response. They drove without saying anything for a few minutes before Alex felt like she should break the awkward silence.</p><p>“So. Dawes. What do you do for fun when you go home at the end of the day, anyway?” </p><p>“For fun?” Dawes looked startled then sheepish. “I usually just put on a Gilmore Girls episode and bake something.” </p><p>“That’s very...normal of you.” </p><p>“I know.” Dawes frowned. “I’m not just a dissertation machine, you know.” </p><p>Alex snorted. “I’m sure. Speaking of the dissertation--” </p><p>Dawes cut her off with a sigh. “You want to know why tarot. Everybody does.” </p><p>“Well, yeah. It seems a little weird even for whatever program you’re in.” </p><p>“It’s the Archaia program,” she said before clarifying, “It’s focused on ancient and premodern cultures and civilizations.” </p><p>“Right.” </p><p>After another silence Dawes cleared her throat and said, “I’ve been interested in the tarot ever since I was a freshman in high school. A friend dared me to go get a reading from a woman who ran a shop out of her apartment near our school.” </p><p>“Was she any good?” Alex asked.</p><p>Dawes wrinkled her nose. “She was terrible. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the symbols and how distinctive and haunting they were.” She glanced over at Alex’s arm and said shyly, “I thought about getting a tattoo of The Empress a while ago, but I’ve never gotten around to it.” </p><p>“Dawes,” Alex said slowly, mischief sparking in her eyes. “Am I taking you out for your first tattoo after this?” </p><p>Dawes' eyes got very wide. “Maybe some other time,” she said hurriedly, and Alex laughed at her expression.</p><p>The awkward atmosphere dissipated, and they drove the rest of the way with Alex tapping her fingertips against the steering wheel in time to the music. Dawes pointed out a red clapboard house when they hit the correct street, and Alex pulled up in front of it. As they sat in the driveway, Alex asked, “So who is this we’re going to see, anyway?”</p><p>“His name’s Simms. Or that’s what everybody calls him. He works on campus as a gardener and as a gravedigger at the local cemetery. He gets us the different death articles we need for the ceremonies.” Dawes looked like she was stalling getting out of the car.</p><p>“What is it?” Alex asked.</p><p>Dawes scrunched up her nose. “I just don’t like talking to new people. I’m supposed to supply all our materials, but Darlington always did this part for me. I’ve saved this until the last minute, and we're just about out of graveyard dirt and ash. I didn’t want to leave us completely without any just in case something goes wrong on Friday.”</p><p>“Nothing’s going to go wrong on Friday,” Alex said reflexively. But Dawes had a point. It was better to be prepared.</p><p>There was a porch light on, and the door opened when they walked up to the steps. A voice drifted down to them from the doorway.</p><p>“I wondered how long you two were going to sit out there.” </p><p>Alex got to the top of the stairs and saw a man only a handful of years older than her wearing a simple faded tee shirt and loose, comfortable jeans. He had brown skin several shades darker than her own and an easy smile. </p><p>“Come on in,” he said. “You must be the ones who called earlier. I’m Simms,” he said, holding a hand out for Alex and Dawes to shake. </p><p>They followed him into the house. It was warm and filled with the smell of something baking. It was cozy in a way Alex hadn’t experienced since being at home with Mira and her grandmother when the house had been full of the scents of orejas cookies and other home-cooked specialties.</p><p>A German Shepherd puppy with one floppy ear met them with a spate of barking until Simms shushed her, with a stern, “Ellie! Sit!” Instead, the puppy approached Alex, panting and nudging Alex’s calf with her nose.</p><p>Simms sighed. “She still doesn’t get ‘sit.’ Let me know if she’s bugging you.” </p><p>Alex laughed and stooped to pet the dog. “Nah. She’s too cute to be a bother.”</p><p>“Where’s Darlington, anyway?” Simms asked as he led them down the short hallway. “Not that I’m not happy to meet the two of you, but he hadn’t contacted me in so long I thought he’d found somebody else.”</p><p>Dawes opened her mouth and nothing came out, so Alex supplied the tried and true answer. “He’s in Spain.”</p><p>“Nice,” Simms said as they stepped into a living room with a worn couch and chairs and a tv surrounded by the snaking wires from two PlayStation controllers.</p><p>Two people who could only be Simms’ roommates lounged on the couch. One was a short blonde girl reading a graphic novel and drinking a cup of tea while the tall dark-haired man next to her played what looked like Dark Souls III.</p><p>Alex felt like she was transported back to a non-Yale world, and it made her feel equal parts strange and comfortable in a way she hadn’t felt in over a year. This was what normal adults her age lived like.</p><p>“We have doughnuts in the kitchen and coffee if you want some.”</p><p>Dawes looked like she wanted to cut to the chase, but Alex wanted to drag out the moment for some reason. </p><p>“Sure,” she said, and Simms led the way into a room with a well-worn table and chairs. The box of doughnuts sat in the center of the table, and Alex took a jelly-filled one. Dawes gingerly picked up a glazed as Simms poured them each a cup of coffee.</p><p>“So, are you both students?” he asked as he handed Alex hers.</p><p>“Yeah,” she said. “You work at the campus?”</p><p>He nodded. “Between this and graveyard duty, it pays the rent.”</p><p>“What did you tell your roommates we were here for, anyway?”</p><p>“I told them you were my dealers,” he said casually, and Dawes practically choked on her doughnut while Alex laughed. The idea of being that kind of cover took her straight back to her life in California. Everything about this took her back to a time when she’d charmed people and put them at ease to get them to buy more product. Not to mention, she’d been semi-high most of the time as well.</p><p>Simms stepped over to a backpack leaning against one of the kitchen chairs and unzipped it, taking out two large tin cans. He handed them over to Dawes who started putting them into her own bag. </p><p>“There you go. Graveyard dirt and cremation leftovers. Let me know if that’s not enough and I can try to scrape together some more. The dirt’s easier, of course.” </p><p>“We’ll let you know,” Alex said. “And thanks.”</p><p>“No problem.” He looked at her a little more closely. “Am I getting all this stuff for you, then? What do you even do with it, anyway? Darlington never said.” </p><p>Alex shook her head. “You don’t want to know.” </p><p>Simms shrugged in return. “Probably not.” </p><p>“How did you get started selling dirt and ashes?” she asked out of curiosity.</p><p>Simms shrugged. “Somebody approached me when I started working the grounds crew at the university. Sandow.”</p><p>Alex's skin crawled slightly at the name.</p><p>“Thought it was weird I hadn’t heard from him, either.”</p><p>“Yeah, well. There’s been a change in management,” Alex said.</p><p>He eyed Alex appraisingly. “There’s something about you that doesn’t seem like the other Yale kids.”</p><p>She bristled, but admitted, “I’m not.”</p><p>“I meant that as a compliment,” he said with a smile that made his honey-brown eyes crinkle up a little.</p><p>“Thanks, then?” Alex said. There was something about him she liked, too. Maybe it was that he wasn’t coming from oodles of money like her classmates and her well-salaried professors. He seemed absolutely, entirely normal. Except for the grave-robbing, she reminded herself.</p><p>Dawes pulled her wallet out of her backpack. “Three hundred?” she asked him, obviously wanting to finish up and get back to her usual obsessions. Simms nodded.</p><p>“Thank you again,” Dawes said as he took it.</p><p>"Anytime.” He turned to Alex. “We should hang out sometime. Ellie’s taken a liking to you.” The dog was nosing around Alex’s shoes, and she bent down to pet her.</p><p>“Ellie likes me, huh?” she found herself asking as she looked up at Simms with a wry smirk.</p><p>He smiled. “Yeah. Just give me a call if you’re ever in the neighborhood.”</p><p>She considered it, watching him standing in his normal kitchen in his normal house with his normal roommates. She considered it a lot.</p><p>“Yeah,” she said, finally. “I’ll do that.” She climbed to her feet.</p><p>“I’ll see you around then,” he said as Dawes and Alex headed back through the living room and towards the front door. Simms caught hold of Ellie’s collar and waved at them as they left.</p><p>“Night,” he called out.</p><p>Alex waved back before following Dawes to Darlington’s car. She started the BMW up and began to navigate the streets back to Il Bastone. Silence filled the car once more, but it was strained this time.</p><p>“What?” Alex asked finally.</p><p>“Nothing,” Dawes said.</p><p>“You’re being weird, Dawes.”</p><p>The other girl looked like she was choosing her words carefully. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to get involved with someone outside Lethe and the Societies? I mean…” She trailed off.</p><p>“What?” Alex asked again. “He’s hot and seems like a regular guy. Mostly. If you forget about the grave robbing.”</p><p>“I suppose, Dawes said. “He seems nice enough. I’m just saying it might not be a good idea to get too attached.”</p><p>“Jesus. He asked me to hang out, not to marry him.”</p><p>“Fine,” Dawes said, sounding mollified. “As long as you don’t tell him what you’re going to be using the materials for. That’s strictly Lethe business.”</p><p>“Like I’d tell him I see dead people and I’m trying to summon a demon. Give me a break, Dawes. When am I going to have time to actually hang out, anyway? There’s a lot going on right now.”</p><p>Dawes was quiet for a moment, driving down roads that Alex tried to memorize in case she ever needed to find her own way back.</p><p>Finally, Dawes broke the silence to ask in a rush, “Do you think it’s going to work? Friday, I mean.”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Alex said as she drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “A lot of that depends on you. Do you think your casting will work?”</p><p>Dawes nodded. “It’s a variation on the hound dog casting Sandow used. If Michelle can talk Scroll and Key into opening a portal, then I can call Darlington towards it.”</p><p>“Good. We’ll make it work, then. You’ll see.” Alex tried to sound confident.</p><p>She pulled up to the curb outside Il Bastone but left the engine running. Dawes looked at her curiously. </p><p>“I’m going to stop by Black Elm,” Alex said. “I want to check on the place just in case we want to go there after the ritual Friday. Besides, Cosmo could probably use some more food.”</p><p>Dawes looked hesitant to argue and merely said, “Okay. Be careful, though.” The unspoken “we need you to do this” weighed down her words.</p><p>“Sure. I’ll see you then if not sooner, Dawes. Enjoy your Gilmore Girls.”</p><p>Dawes nodded and climbed out of the car before Alex pulled away and started the trek to Darlington’s former sanctum. As she drove, she thought about what it had felt like to be at the red clapboard house surrounded by people living their lives at a comfortable pace, and for a moment she was jealous of what they had. The words “what do you want” bubbled up after having heard them all week, and if she was honest with herself, a big part of her wanted the peace of a quiet life that didn’t ask too much of her. Yale was all stress and danger—holding on by the tips of her fingernails. It would probably feel like sliding into a warm bath to just let all that go, but she had a feeling she didn’t really belong in either world anymore.</p><p>So what was left for her?</p><p>“I wish I knew,” Alex muttered aloud before turning onto Edgewood and then driving up the gravel drive leading up to the house, its lamps unlit and unwelcoming. After getting out of the car, she touched her hands to one of the thick stone columns guarding the entry. Hopefully Darlington would be able to walk beneath these same columns the next evening. Dawes had brought up the fact that Sandow had banished Darlington from Black Elm during the ritual earlier that year. Alex was hoping there would be a way to undo it and make the way clear if only because he had loved this place so much. Surely it would be a good touchstone for him to reacquaint himself with the mortal plane.</p><p>She picked up the few pieces of mail waiting on the doormat before unlocking the front door and entering. It was cold and dark, so different from when the group filled the house to try to call Darlington back to them. The house looked disheveled in a way she knew Darlington would have hated with its windows boarded up. Cosmo met her on the stairs as she found herself climbing up to Darlington’s tower bedroom, the cat a blur of white bounding up the stairs in front of her.</p><p>“You’ll be happy when he’s back, huh Cosmo,” Alex said. And she would be, too. She wasn’t embarrassed to admit that she’d come here as much to be near where Darlington had been as she had to check on things for the post-ritual festivities. Opening the door to his bedroom, she looked at the stacks of books that hadn’t been disturbed in months now. Cosmo curved around her ankles, sniffing daintily then pulled back as if chastising her for letting a dog near her earlier.</p><p>There was nothing else to be seen in the room besides the old clipping of the roller coaster. Moving to the desk, she carefully untacked it from the wall, folded it, and slid it neatly into a pocket in her bag. It had obviously meant something to Darlington. Maybe an item like that would help the spell along.</p><p>Alex set the bag down on the chair by the window and eased herself under the covers on the bed. Cosmo watched her, and she sighed before telling him, “This is the last night I stay, ok? He’ll be back in a few days.” As if that mollified the cat, he turned and left the room, his fluffy tail curving through the air behind him like a question mark.</p><p>She closed her eyes once she was alone. The bed had long since stopped smelling of its owner, and the house’s loneliness seemed to seep into her bones. As she drifted off to sleep, Alex couldn’t help but hope she’d dream of him one last time before he came back and shattered those fantasies with the reality of whatever they were to each other.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div>The dream swallowed her almost as soon as she closed her eyes as if her presence at Black Elm made it stronger, more present. One moment she embraced the darkness of oblivion and the next she felt herself lying on her back in the bed. Someone lay beside her, their hand stroking her hair back from her face gently. She relaxed into it and tilted her face up, welcoming the touch.<p>Darlington’s voice purred in the darkness, “You came back.”</p><p>“Always,” Alex said with a sigh. Then his mouth was on hers, kissing her softly. She didn’t want soft, though, and he inhaled sharply when she nipped his lower lip and fisted her hands in his hair to pull him closer. Her eagerness for him overwhelmed her as it seemed to be doing with him as well. She’d missed him in the hours since she’d last been in this bed, and she dimly realized she wore the same clothes as when she’d been awake.</p><p>Alex had never had lucid dreams that she could remember the way she remembered these dreams about Darlington, and she intended to enjoy this one. She slid one of her hands to his bicep and practically pulled him on top of her. He went along with her demands, moving to cover her body with his own and pressing her firmly into the mattress. Their kisses were enthusiastic, her tongue sliding into his mouth to twine with his. He rewarded her with a low sound deep in his throat, and his hand slid upwards to cover her breast. Alex gasped at the touch, arching into the feel of his hand.</p><p>When she spread her legs, he shifted so he lay with his hips cradled between her thighs. He pressed himself close, and she felt him hard against her. The sensation sent her almost wild with desire. She arched her back again when he began to rub his thumb back and forth against her nipple that went firm from his motions. Darlington thrust his hips in a slow, lazy gesture that sent pleasure skittering through her veins and pooling low in her stomach. The anticipation felt delicious.</p><p>She pushed on his chest and he pulled back enough to let her sit up and pull her shirt off over her head, then they were tangled up together again. More drugging kisses followed, and when he finally reached down to slide the zipper down on her jeans, her hands joined his. She fumbled with the button holding them closed then shoved them low on her hips, allowing him to jerk them farther down to her calves. When his hand touched her between her legs, she cried out and pressed herself more firmly against his fingertips that began to stroke and circle where she most wanted to be touched. The teasing lightness made her growl her frustration, and he gave a low laugh in exchange.</p><p>As he slid his fingers under the fabric at the top of her underwear, the nails sharp, she raised her ass a few inches off the bed to let him slide them off her. She was so desperate by now for him, that when he covered her once more, she wrapped her legs tight around him and bucked beneath him, inviting him inside—</p><p>But a piercing ringing shredded the dream into pieces, leaving her grasping at it, trying to hold onto it in desperation. It was no good, and when she opened her eyes, she grabbed her phone and jabbed her thumb angrily against the screen to turn the alarm off. Alex lay in the bed, panting and wet and frustrated.</p><p>Fuck, she thought. Hopefully she could look Darlington in the face when she saw him later. Because it was Thursday morning, and they would be summoning him the very next night. “Nothing wrong with a sex dream about your Virgil. Just keep it together and no blushing,” she muttered to herself as she climbed out of his bed. Cosmo wandered in as she made up the covers, and he hopped on top of them to demand her attention.</p><p>She scratched the top of his head as he purred and rubbed his face against her hand. “I know, buddy. We’ll get him back and then you won’t need me anymore. You can have the guy you really want to be here again.” Cosmo didn’t seem to care who was petting him, though, so long as she didn’t stop. When she finally pulled away, he mrowled plaintively, making her laugh.</p><p>“I’ve got to get to class, buddy. We’ll see you later.” Then she grabbed her bag off the floor and hurried down the stairs and out the door to Darlington’s car. She had just enough time to get it back to Il Bastone before Dawes got there and could probably even grab some breakfast before her class on Spiritualism.</p><p>The night couldn’t come soon enough, and her blood fizzed with excitement, pushing away the dread that they would come up short. Alex shut down the tiny voice inside that screamed that maybe venturing into hell wasn’t a good idea and that so many things could go wrong. But no, she was committed. If it took marching to the gates of hell themselves and facing whatever awaited her, then that was what she would do. And nothing and nobody could stop her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thursday, September 16th, 7:30am</p>
<p>Alex practically tiptoed into the dorm room when she arrived back at Jonathan Edwards so as to avoid her roommates, but it was no use. Both Mercy and Lauren were already awake and getting ready for their day. Mercy stuck her head out of her open door and said in a bright voice, “Well, look who’s finally home.”</p>
<p>“Alex Stern, are you doing a walk of shame?” Lauren laughed. She eyed Alex up and down and gave a small, mock-disapproving shake of her head. </p>
<p>“Wearing the same clothes and everything. Definitely a walk of shame,” Mercy chimed in, although she was smiling.</p>
<p>“Haha,” Alex said, and it was hard to keep the irritation out of her voice. She was still feeling out of sorts and planned to take a long shower before going to class. “I’ll have you know I had a perfectly tame evening taking a friend out to Fairhaven to meet with this guy. I stayed over at Aunt Eileen’s since it was closer.”</p>
<p>“A guy, you say?” Lauren said, looking curious. “Is he town or an upperclassman living off-campus?”</p>
<p>“Town,” Alex admitted. “He’s a few years older than us and works here at Yale.”</p>
<p>“My, my. Another town guy. You have a type.”</p>
<p>Alex felt confused for a minute then remembered she’d told them she was going out on a date with someone from New Haven the night Lethe had tried to pull Darlington out of what was supposed to be a pocket dimension. She tried to laugh it off, “What can I say, I like an older guy with a regular job.”</p>
<p>“Nothing wrong with that,” Mercy said. “You still look kind of ready to bite someone’s head off, though. Want a cup of coffee?” She gestured towards the small coffee maker plugged into the wall, but Alex shook her head.</p>
<p>“I just didn’t sleep well. I’m going to grab a shower and take off after that. It’s going to be a long day.” She paused. “Oh um, I'll probably be out really late tonight. And I’ll be gone all night tomorrow, too. Darlington’s supposed to be getting in from New York for a visit.”</p>
<p>“Nice,” Lauren said with a smirk. “Well, tell him to be sure to come pay his respects over here when he’s finished with your aunt.” Mercy sighed, and it was loud with longing.</p>
<p>“You both are the worst,” Alex groaned as she ducked into her room. Pulling open her drawers, she surveyed her clothes for a moment. What did one wear to open a doorway to hell in a day, anyway? It was warm enough outside that she settled on a black tank top and skinny jeans. By the time she’d hurried down the hall and taken a shower, she was already feeling more human. Her blood wasn’t buzzing with repressed energy and desire anymore, and she felt like she could face the day and the evening to come.</p>
<p>When she left her room to head to class, Mercy was also grabbing her bag and rushing out the door. “Want to go to breakfast together?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Sure,” Alex replied, and the two set out for the JE dining hall. No matter how many times she saw it, Alex still couldn’t help but admire the flowers and scrolling carved into the dark wood of the entryway. After piling her plate with food, she took a seat across from Mercy with her back towards one of the massive fireplaces.</p>
<p>“So did I miss anything yesterday while I was gone?” Alex asked.</p>
<p>Mercy hesitated and looked down at her pancakes, “Colin Richards from my duets class asked me out on a date.”</p>
<p>“Are you going to go?”</p>
<p>Mercy poked at her food with her fork. “Undecided.”</p>
<p>“Have you been on a date since everything last semester?” Alex asked as gently as she could.</p>
<p>“No,” Mercy said quietly. A moment later she wiped away her expression with a cheerful smile that Alex didn’t believe for a second. “How are your classes going so far?”</p>
<p>“Fine. I miss your help from when you worked with me on the English stuff, though. Angus is a dick about my essays.”</p>
<p>“Well, if you ever need help with anything, just let me know. I know it was hard for you to get acclimated last year.”</p>
<p>“That’s putting it mildly,” Alex drawled. “But it’s going to be different this year. It has to be. As long as people quit asking me what I want. It feels like that’s all anybody asks me about lately.”</p>
<p>Mercy took a bite of her pancakes. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard you say anything about the future. So what have you been telling people?”</p>
<p>Alex blew out a frustrated breath. “I want to be normal. Average.”</p>
<p>Mercy nodded, but she looked as if she was biting her tongue.</p>
<p>“What?” Alex asked, grumpy at the fact that her friends were now questioning her as well.</p>
<p>Mercy took a sip of her coffee before replying. “You’ve been working so hard to be normal. Don’t you want more than that? Adventure and excitement maybe?”</p>
<p>Alex hesitated. “That sounds a little unrealistic. I think it’s better if I don’t have high expectations. And adventure and excitement are overrated.”</p>
<p>“If you say so,” Mercy said, sounding unconvinced. “I think you deserve to have all of it, though.”</p>
<p>“We’ll see.” Alex looked at the time on her phone. “I need to get to Sterling Library before class.”</p>
<p>“I have to hit the Music building. We can walk together if you want.”</p>
<p>The day was already warm as they stepped outside the JE main entry with its crenellated towers and headed up High Street. A Gray named Martin drifted nearby. He was dressed in the same nineteenth-century suit he’d been buried in after he’d died of measles in 1897. Alex shuddered. He’d been very detailed in his description of the disease when he’d followed her as she’d walked across campus one day. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and she readied some death words.</p>
<p>“Now the dim gods of death have in their keeping spirit and body and all the springs of song,” she rattled off under her breath. Martin’s look of shock was almost funny, and Alex felt relieved that she’d bothered to look up more poetry since Darlington wasn’t here to spoon-feed it to her. Swinburne tended to really send the dead running. The whole <i>Ave Atque Vale</i> poem was no joke to them.</p>
<p>“What did you say?” Mercy asked with a confused expression on her face.</p>
<p>“Nothing,” Alex replied. “Just trying to memorize something for my Spiritualism class.”</p>
<p>Her friend’s expression cleared. “Oh, okay. Hope it’s not too much of a pain.”</p>
<p>“Nah. It’s alright so far.”</p>
<p>The two continued on their way, and Alex looked around at the beautiful Fall landscape and at how it made the campus look like some kind of brochure for college life. There was a small landscaping truck parked on the curb next to the Old Campus courtyard, and Alex heard her name as they walked past it.</p>
<p>She turned and saw Simms standing alongside another groundskeeper. He had a hand raised in greeting.</p>
<p>“Hey!” she exclaimed.</p>
<p>He returned his hands to the top of his rake handle and leaned forwards on it as she approached. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon. How’s it going?”</p>
<p>Alex was very aware that Mercy was watching this exchange. “Good. Just headed off to the library. I’ll see you around, though. Say hi to Ellie for me.”</p>
<p>Simms smiled and nodded, turning back to his work.</p>
<p>“Is that the guy you said worked here? The one you met last night?”</p>
<p>Alex gave a noncommittal sound, not wanting to encourage Mercy’s interest. </p>
<p>“You didn’t mention he was so cute. And into you.”</p>
<p>“He’s not into me,” Alex protested.</p>
<p>Mercy snorted. “He definitely is.”</p>
<p>“Well, I don’t really have time for that shit.” She nudged her friend’s shoulder to take any bite out of the words. A few moments later, they hit the corner at Elm. “I’ll see you in a few days. Have a good one, and don’t worry about waiting up for me anytime soon.”</p>
<p>“Tell Darlington I said hi.”</p>
<p>“Will do.” And she sincerely hoped she’d be able to do that.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div>After a full day of classes and studying, Alex felt exhausted but wired for the evening as she made her way towards Il Bastone in the falling darkness. She checked her phone when it buzzed and felt a twinge of nerves when she saw it was a text from Michelle, sure that it would say they had to put off the ritual again or that Scroll and Key had said no to opening a portal. Alex breathed a sigh of relief as she read it.<p>
  <i>Scroll and Key want to take Book and Snake’s place tonight. I’ll meet you at the house.</i>
</p>
<p>It would be irritating to have to spend time on a ritual, but maybe Michelle would use it to persuade Scroll and Key to open a portal. It certainly wouldn’t hurt for them to owe Lethe a favor, no matter how small. Alex picked up the pace as she turned at the corner of Grove and Orange. The night air had grown chilly, but her excitement made her blood pump faster in turn, and it felt like no time at all before the house loomed before her.</p>
<p>She practically barged in the door, startling Dawes who stood at the bottom of the massive staircase. “Hey, Dawes. Is Michelle here yet?”</p>
<p>“She just got here. She’s in the armory.”</p>
<p>“Thanks,” Alex said as she and Dawes climbed to the second floor. “Any word on if we get Scroll and Key’s help for tomorrow?”</p>
<p>Dawes shook her head and said quietly, “I asked Michelle, but she wanted to wait until you were here too.”</p>
<p>When they entered the armory, Alex could see Michelle standing before the many drawers lining the long expanse of wall.</p>
<p>“Can I help you find anything,” Dawes asked warily.</p>
<p>Michelle continued to rifle through the drawers as she said, “Just looking for the Haitian <i>garde</i>.”</p>
<p>“It’s in the third drawer on the left. I put some fresh cat’s hair and mugwort in it two weeks ago.”</p>
<p>Alex tried not to think too hard about that one. “What’s a <i>garde</i> and why do you need it?” she asked instead as Michelle opened the drawer and pulled out a small drawstring bag.</p>
<p>“It’s a protection charm,” Michelle said, handing it to her after sliding a necklace chain through the handles holding the bag closed.</p>
<p>Alex took it gingerly before hanging it around her neck at a gesture from Michelle. “Protection from what?”</p>
<p>“From whatever has the Societies’ knickers in a twist. The representatives from both Book and Snake and Scroll and Key sounded a little too nervous when I talked to them yesterday and today. There’s something not quite right about this canceling and switching ceremonies business. Makes me suspect that something’s up they don’t want us to know about.”</p>
<p>“Where’s yours, then” Alex asked, thinking of North’s words that she hadn’t yet shared with either of the two women. Was that whatever the Gray had meant about there being something going on that was affecting the Veil?</p>
<p>Michelle shook her head. “There’s only the one, and I’m Virgil, so I say you get to take it. Besides, it might interfere with Hiram’s Bullet. If I can’t see any Grays, then I’m not much good tonight. “ She paused. It’s probably nothing, anyway. I just like to be cautious.”</p>
<p>It always bugged Alex when Michelle bossed her around, but the other woman’s expression told her she wouldn’t be taking the charm even if Alex insisted. “Fine,” she said instead. “What time’s the ceremony?”</p>
<p>“They said they’ll start as soon as we get there, and they wanted us to hurry. One more reason I’m a little suspicious of whatever this is for. At least the ritual won’t be in Dutch like the Bonesmen’s, so we’ll know what’s up as soon as they get started.”</p>
<p>Alex hesitated, almost not wanting to ask. “Did you talk to them about opening the portal tomorrow?”</p>
<p>Michelle looked away. “Let’s just get through this ritual, then we’ll see what they have to say.” Before Alex could protest, she added with an exasperated air, “If they’re doing anything questionable during the ceremony, we can use it as leverage to get them to keep quiet about what they see or don’t see with Darlington. We can argue about the timeline of rescuing him later. Let’s go.” She turned and strode to the door without looking back.</p>
<p>Alex and Dawes exchanged a look. “I might have already asked her about keeping our Friday date. She…wasn’t too happy with me about it,” Dawes said sheepishly.</p>
<p>Alex sighed. “Thanks for trying, Dawes. I’m not giving up, though. It’s happening tonight if I have to drag her there kicking and screaming.”</p>
<p>“Ok,” Dawes said meekly. “I’ll back you up.”</p>
<p>Alex nodded and turned to follow after Michelle. “And be careful,” Dawes called after her, making Alex smile. At some point Dawes had decided she cared about Alex—maybe not as much or in the same way that she cared about Darlington, but she cared, nevertheless.</p>
<p>Michelle was already at the door and wearing her black wool coat by the time Alex reached the bottom of the stairs.</p>
<p>“We can take my car. I have somewhere to be after this, and I’d rather not walk,” she said as she stepped through the door and Alex followed. Michelle had parked her car just behind Darlington’s on the curb, and Alex climbed into the passenger’s seat. Michelle started up the engine and navigated down the street before asking, “How did the scholarship dinner go?”</p>
<p>“Fine. I met the donor.”</p>
<p>“Really? What were they like?”</p>
<p>“Weird. And I’m pretty positive she was related to Hiram Bingham.” It had finally come to Alex why at least part of Vinia’s name had sounded so familiar. He had helped to found Lethe, but the woman’s attitude towards their House seemed ambivalent if not worse.</p>
<p>Michelle grew quiet at Alex’s revelation. “That family isn’t associated with Lethe anymore. They booted Hiram Bingham IV out on his ass in the 1920s.”</p>
<p>“Any idea why?”</p>
<p>“Nope. It was very hush hush. If you read <i>The Life of Lethe</i>, there’s no mention of it at all. It just sort of gets passed down by other Lethe members that you’re not indispensable, so don’t get complacent. Makes me think he was either dabbling in something or was just incompetent and got the gig because of who his father was. God knows that’s how Yale tends to run.”</p>
<p>Alex thought of all the legacy students she’d encountered. Some of them were smart and talented, some of them like Tripp Helmuth were definitely on this side of incompetent. Money made the world go round, though. “I’ll have to ask his great-granddaughter about it tomorrow if that’s who she is. She invited me to dinner. I’ll make it quick so we can start the ritual on time, though.”</p>
<p>“Hm. Take your time. You don’t want to seem rude if she’d be a good person for your network.”</p>
<p>Alex held her hands to the car’s heater vent and frowned. “I dunno. The last person who tried to mentor me also tried to eat my soul.”</p>
<p>Michelle laughed. “I refuse to believe your luck is bad enough you’d get two people in a row trying to kill you.”</p>
<p>Alex snorted. “You have no idea about my luck.” </p>
<p>“That’s the attitude we need to rescue your Virgil.”</p>
<p>“About that—” Alex began.</p>
<p>Michelle sighed. “Do you never quit? Leave it, Alex.”</p>
<p>“Not until you actually do your part.”</p>
<p>“It’s strange,” Michelle mused. “I seem to recall you taking to heart the phrase ‘We are the shepherds’ when we first met. I’m not going to raise a demon without as many precautions as possible even if it is Darlington. And we don’t know if he’ll be who he was. I’d be surprised if he was the same, really.” She pulled up just past where Grove Street met High Street and parked the car.</p>
<p>Alex clenched her hands into fists before undoing her seatbelt and climbing out of the car after Michelle. “We can cross that bridge when we get there. At this rate we’ll never actually get there.”</p>
<p>“All in good time,” Michelle said airily.</p>
<p>“Have you ever considered not being massively useless, Alameddine?” Alex snapped in return</p>
<p>Michelle shut the car door behind her with more force than necessary. “Watch yourself, Dante. I don’t think you want to make me pull rank on you and go to Cartwright.”</p>
<p>Alex gave an ugly laugh. “And what would you tell her exactly?”</p>
<p>“That you’re not pulling your weight as Dante and could use a little break, that’s what,” she snapped.</p>
<p>Alex fell silent. “This isn’t over,” she promised.</p>
<p>“It is for now.” </p>
<p>They walked in silence past Book and Snake’s tomb and through the Hewitt Quad. When Michelle opened the door to Scroll and Key’s tomb, she turned back to Alex. “Try to be a professional.”</p>
<p>Alex gave her the finger and Michelle sighed before turning away and entering the tomb without a backward glance. The door shut behind Alex, and she passed the golden screens and enchanted orange trees in the courtyard as she headed into the inner sanctum of the tomb to the round stone table in its center. The Locksmiths stood around it and at all the corners of the room.</p>
<p>“You’re late,” one of them said to Michelle.</p>
<p>“Bullshit. You’re trying to rush things through, and I don’t like it,” Michelle returned with more force than normal. Alex realized she must have gotten under the woman’s skin. She smirked. Getting under people’s skin was a particular talent of hers.</p>
<p>Looking over at Michelle, she saw her draw a vial out of her coat’s inner pocket. Hiram’s Bullet. She’d almost forgotten. The fact that Michelle would have to soon drink such an unpleasant substance probably was contributing to the other woman’s mood. But Alex didn’t have it in her to feel bad about demanding that she actually hurry up and come through for them.</p>
<p>A few Grays hovered in the background barely inside the room at all, but obviously wanting to be near so they could drink down the magic from the ritual—not to mention any blood that might be spilled. The Locksmiths weren’t powered by sex like Manuscript nor exactly the viscera from the Bonesmen’s rituals, but they did have their own way of channeling their tomb’s nexus. Their specific form of using life and death to call to the Veil involved gathering blood from each of the Scroll and Key members and pouring it slowly from a chalice intended to mimic the Holy Grail onto the altar.</p>
<p>Michelle downed the Orozcerio, and her face went very pale just like Darlington’s had whenever he’d drunk the stuff. “Motherfucker,” she swore very quietly.</p>
<p>Alex was almost glad she could just see the Grays instead of having to go through the physical effects of the Bullet. Almost.</p>
<p>Michelle’s eyes widened and she drew in a sharp breath when she took in the Grays lurking around. She pulled out a bag full of graveyard dirt and weighed some in her hands. “You have yours?” she asked curtly without turning to Alex. Still pissed, apparently.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m all set.”</p>
<p>“You can draw the circle, then,” Michelle instructed as she began to toss graveyard dirt at the Grays, who scattered out of the way and then vanished through the walls and out of sight.</p>
<p>Alex took the piece of chalk out of her pocket that she always used for these rituals and moved to stand between Michelle and the stone circle. She intended to set the symbols around the altar since the majority of the ritual would take place there. That was where the blood gathered from the group and poured from their holy chalice would be concentrated, anyway. It always looked like something out of a Waterhouse print depicting Circe that she’d seen once. As she bent over and set the chalk to the ground, she heard a sound like someone choking. Her head whipped up and she turned to Michelle who was doubled over, her lips turning blue.</p>
<p>“There’s something—” she managed to get out before she dropped to the ground and started convulsing at Alex’s feet.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>All I have to say is "get thee a beta reader as amazing as ink_drunk"! Thank you all for reading and for leaving such wonderful, encouraging comments :) And fyi, the smut hath arrived...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Thursday, September 16th - 8:00pm</p><p>Nobody moved at first when Michelle dropped to the ground, but a moment later everyone in the room sprang into motion. Alex fell to her knees beside the woman and touched her gently on the shoulder. “Do something!” she exclaimed to the frightened Locksmiths when Michelle didn’t respond. </p><p>A boy Alex didn’t know joined her on the ground, saying, “Help me ease her onto her side then fold up your coat and put it under her head.”</p><p>“Shouldn’t we put something between her teeth?”</p><p>“No. My sister has epilepsy. Just do what I said, and she should be fine.”</p><p>Alex pulled her coat off while the boy turned Michelle gently onto her side. Wadding the fabric up, she placed it under Michelle’s head. Then all she could do was wait. </p><p>It was all over in another minute, but that minute felt like it lasted years. When her Virgil finally stopped shaking, Alex waited for her to open her eyes. </p><p>“Why isn’t she waking up?” she demanded.</p><p>The boy frowned. “I don’t know. My sister always comes out of it a little while after she stops convulsing. Has your friend ever done this before? If not, we should call an ambulance.” </p><p>Alex shook her head. “She hasn’t had one that I know of.” </p><p>She pulled out her phone to call 911, but the boy intercepted her. “I’ll call campus security. They’ll get here sooner.” He reached for his phone and punched in the numbers before beginning to spell out the situation. </p><p>Alex hesitated a moment then hit Dawes’ number on her phone. The girl answered on the second ring, always ready in case anything ever went wrong at a ritual. And something had definitely gone wrong.</p><p>“Dawes. Something’s wrong with Michelle. She just had some kind of seizure or attack or something. I don’t know if it was normal or magical. Can you get here? Right now?”</p><p>“I’m just leaving,” Dawes replied before hanging up.</p><p>She must have broken several laws, because she arrived only a few minutes later to Alex’s relief. </p><p>“I heard the ambulance siren outside. We only have a minute before the EMTs get here.” Dawes crouched next to Michelle who still hadn’t woken up. “What happened?”</p><p>“She took the Bullet like normal, then her lips turned blue and she collapsed. She hasn’t woken up at all.”</p><p>Dawes pulled out a large sphere of what looked like amethyst out of her pocket and held it over Michelle’s chest. A moment later, she hissed and looked like she was about to drop it. </p><p>“This stone is supposed to recognize magical interference and malicious intent. It’s burning up. There’s definitely something going on here. I can’t tell what it is, though, without taking her back to the house.”</p><p>“Can we do that?” Alex demanded.</p><p>“No time,” Dawes said as she fished the empty Bullet vial out of Michelle’s pocket.</p><p>The sound of the EMTs banging on the door was already coming from the hall outside.</p><p>“I can put her in suspended animation with this,” Dawes said, pulling her own vial out of her bag. “It should ward off the effects of whatever spell did this, and at least we’ll have a little time to come up with something more permanent.”</p><p>“Do it. And hurry.”</p><p>Dawes turned Michelle onto her back, and Alex helped lift her up enough that they wouldn’t choke her when Dawes poured the elixir down her throat. There was no change in the woman’s expression. Her eyes were closed and her face was slack in unconsciousness.</p><p>Two EMTs burst into the room, looking confused on seeing the stone altar and the horde of people in robes, but they shook it off enough to come to Michelle’s side. Alex explained what had happened again, leaving out the part where her Virgil had drunk a magic elixir just before she'd collapsed that was brewed in a golden bowl and might one day kill her.</p><p>After the group of medics left with Michelle on a stretcher, the current president of Scroll and Key sidled up to the shellshocked Alex to ask, “Can we still do the ritual?”</p><p>“Yeah,” Alex snapped. “You can do it, but you’ll have to do it without me.”</p><p>“But…the ghosts,” he protested.</p><p>“You’re on your own for now. Do it Sunday if it’s so goddamn important. I’ll be here then but not before. Let’s go, Dawes.” She stalked out of the room and Dawes hurried along behind her.</p><p>“Do you have Michelle’s keys?” Dawes asked, flustered but always practical.</p><p>“Fuck. No. I didn’t think to grab them.”</p><p>“It’s fine. Her parents will probably drive in from New York. We can tell them where she left her car.”</p><p>Alex nodded. Dawes led her to Darlington’s car that sat illegally parked outside Silliman College. She climbed into the passenger seat and Dawes sat behind the steering wheel for a moment without starting it up.</p><p>“What happened? Tell me everything,” she demanded.</p><p>Alex blew out a long breath. “I don’t know. Everything was normal—or as normal as it ever is before a ritual. I already told you everything. She’d just taken the Orozcerio before she started coughing and said something was wrong. Then she was down. What do you think it was?”</p><p>“Based on the stone, it’s definitely something magical in nature. But what?” Dawes looked off into the distance and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel. “I don’t know what it could be. I’ll get started doing some research back at the library.”</p><p>“Okay. I’ll reach out to the Grays. Michelle drove off a few before the ritual, but maybe one of them will know something or will have seen something.”</p><p>Dawes sighed. “It’s a good thing you took the <i>garde</i> with you, or you might have been affected as well. I’m glad Michelle thought of it.”</p><p>“Yeah. Too bad there wasn’t a second one for her.” Alex felt unaccountably guilty, which she knew was stupid, but she couldn’t help feeling that way. She had dodged a bullet, and she knew it. A thought occurred to her. “One of us will have to call Cartwright and tell her what’s going on. Centurion too, maybe.”</p><p>“I can do it if you want,” Dawes said.</p><p>“Nah. I was the one who was there. It should be me. I’ll call tonight after we’ve put together all the materials for tomorrow.”</p><p>“Maybe…Maybe we should hold off on everything for tomorrow.”</p><p>Alex rounded on Dawes. “Don’t even think about it,” she snarled. “And don’t tell me you’re giving up, too. We’re going to go ahead even if Michelle is out of the picture.”</p><p>Dawes looked startled, and her voice was soft as she said, “If you’re sure—”</p><p>“I’m sure,” Alex interrupted. “Now let’s go.”</p><p>The car started to life, but the two were silent on their way back to Il Bastone. Dawes didn’t make eye contact with Alex when they got out of the car, either, and Alex felt guilty both for shouting at Dawes and for being the one who had made it through the evening unscathed. It would be fine, though. They’d spend tonight figuring out how to fix Michelle and would put the finishing touches on their summoning materials for the next day.</p><p>Alex watched Dawes trudge to the library, and she herself went into the bathroom off the Dante bedroom. She plugged the sink and began running water in it. As the mirror began to fog around the edges from the steam, she turned the faucets off and said the magic words. </p><p>“North, I need you. Get over here. Now.”</p><p>North’s face appeared in the water a moment later. “Ms. Stern. I’ve been looking for you.”</p><p>“Well, you found me. Tell me what’s going on. What happened to Michelle?”</p><p>She watched his wavy outline shake its head. “I am not sure. But there is something amiss. As I told you before, someone is channeling a force affecting the world both here and on the other side. It is more noticeable here on the mortal plane, and it is most definitely centered on New Haven.”</p><p>“So how do I help Michelle?”</p><p>North shook his head again. “I wish I knew. Truly. Your Virgil seems to be a good woman. I worry for you as well.”</p><p>“I can take care of myself, North.”</p><p>“Yes. Well, I am here to assist if necessary. I will keep my eyes open for anything or anyone that may be causing this.” He paused. “It reminds me of something, but I cannot put my finger on it. There was a similar stirring when I was younger and less powerful. I did not investigate then, but I will certainly do so now.”</p><p>“Thanks, North. I appreciate it.”</p><p>“For now, might I suggest that you not do anything rash to upset the precarious balance we still have?”</p><p>Alex’s mouth straightened into a grim line. “You mean don’t try to summon Darlington.”</p><p>North looked equally serious. “That is what I was alluding to, yes. Portal magic or any large rituals would not be a good idea at the moment. Not until we know more about what is happening.”</p><p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alex said. North drew his brows together and opened his mouth to respond, but Alex interrupted him. “Let me know what you find. I’ll check in with you tomorrow.” With that, she plunged her hand straight through North’s face and pulled the sink’s plug. The water began to spiral down the drain, and the offended look on North’s face almost made her smile. Almost. Things were feeling out of control, and Alex hated few things more than feeling out of control.</p><p>She left the bedroom for the library, finding Dawes hovering over several books laid open on the surface of the table.</p><p>“I just talked to North,” Alex announced. “He says there’s something weird going on, but he doesn’t know what.”</p><p>Dawes made a distracted noise and continued to scan through the volumes in front of her.</p><p>“Find anything?” Alex asked impatiently.</p><p>Dawes looked up at that. “Only that whatever happened to Michelle was a malicious spell.”</p><p>“No kidding.”</p><p>Dawes ignored the sarcasm and continued. “It would have to be a powerful one to affect her so strongly. Most spells like that have relatively milder effects. Headaches, stomach pains, sores. That kind of thing.”</p><p>“So what could knock her out like that?”</p><p>“Someone channeling a lot of power. I’ll need to read more and see if I can find whether something similar has ever happened before. There must be something out there. I just need to think of the right words to make the library respond.”</p><p>“Well, if you get it to cough up the right book, I’ll be upstairs in Michelle’s room.”</p><p>Dawes looked like she wanted to protest, but she just nodded and went back to reading.</p><p>Alex climbed the steps up to the Virgil room where Michelle had once lived and where Darlington had never stayed as far as she knew. If they were going to do things her way, then she would have to track down the tablets confiscated from Scroll and Key. As she looked, she pulled out her phone and pulled up her contacts page before scrolling to Cartwright’s name. When she got the dean’s voicemail, she left a message giving the details on Michelle being taken to the hospital and how she was working with Oculus to look for a solution. No need for her to know about their plans for the next evening.</p><p>Centurion’s number was just below that, and Alex decided to give him a call. He picked up on the fourth ring. It was a far cry from their relationship of the previous year.</p><p>“This is Turner.”</p><p>“Hey,” Alex began.</p><p>“I’m guessing this isn’t a social call. Don’t tell me you’re in trouble again, Stern. I finally cleaned up the paperwork from last spring.”</p><p>“It’s Michelle, actually. Something happened to her tonight. Some kind of spell that took her out. We’re working on it, but I thought you should know just in case it turns out to be something that affects police business.”</p><p>“Alright. Anything else I should know about?”</p><p>“Nope. That’s about it.”</p><p>Turner was silent for a minute. “What are you up to, Stern?”</p><p>Alex went cold for a second. Turner had good instincts. “Nothing. I’m not up to anything,” she said as cooly as she could.</p><p>“If you were a suspect in one of my investigations, I’d be hauling you in.”</p><p>“There’s nothing going on. I swear.” She paused. “We might be trying to get Darlington back, so if the world implodes, you’ll know who to blame.”</p><p>“Stern—”</p><p>“Kidding. Kidding.”</p><p>“Don’t go messing with whatever it is you’re about to mess with.”</p><p>“Have a little faith in me, Turner.”</p><p>“I have faith in you to get yourself in deep shit. That’s what I have faith in.”</p><p>“Well, I know who to call if I do get in trouble.”</p><p>“Mm. I’m going to say goodnight now, Stern, before you give me an ulcer.”</p><p>“Night, Turner.”</p><p>Alex put her phone away and took a look around the room. It was sparsely decorated, but there were still a lot of places Michelle could have stashed the tablets. It was a good thing Alex was a professional at finding things thanks to her years of ripping off her own mother for drug money. “Where would you hide a handful of pills, Alameddine?” she mused.</p><p>Alex wondered for a moment if Michelle could have taken them with her to her apartment, but the odds of that were low. Michelle liked to follow the same rules Darlington did, and the wards here on Il Bastone made it the safest place to store magical items. She turned to the easiest targets like the closet and cupboards, the pillows, and the dresser. </p><p>Nothing.</p><p>Alex ventured into the bathroom attached to the bedroom and looked in the medicine cabinet above the sink. There was no way Michelle would just put them in there. But there was a purple plastic pill case sitting there on the cabinet shelf. It rattled when Alex picked it up, and she opened it to find the tablets inside.</p><p>“Good god, Alameddine. It’s like you <i>want</i> me to open a hell gate.”</p><p>As she carried the pills back downstairs, Alex counted them carefully. Six tablets and six opportunities to open the way to Darlington. Luckily, they already knew which hell dimension he was in thanks to the casting Sandow and Michelle had performed earlier that spring. Dawes was fairly sure she could reconstruct the pathway with the same casting. They just had to do it in a place where Darlington would be welcome, and that place was no longer Black Elm. She hated Sandow for a lot of reasons, but banishing Darlington from one of the few places that had made him truly happy was the one that made her hope he was rotting in a hell of his own. Preferably one where Darlington could tear his soul to shreds the way Belbalm had been destroyed.</p><p>Alex greeted Dawes downstairs with the words, “I found them. And Michelle is officially shit at hiding things. We should be all set for tomorrow.”</p><p>Dawes gave a small hum of interest, but still seemed absorbed in her research. It was a good thing they had her on the case. Nobody else in the world could research like Dawes once she’d put her mind to something.</p><p>“Hey, Dawes?”</p><p>“Mm?”</p><p>“I’m uh…sorry I yelled at you.”</p><p>Dawes looked up at that. “Don’t worry about it,” she said quietly. “I know you just want to help as much as I do.”</p><p>“Yeah. Anyway, I’m going to go get some sleep up in my room. Night.”</p><p>“Night,” Dawes said, and she gave Alex a small smile that reassured her that everything was alright between them. Alex felt no small amount of relief. She had gotten used to not being alone, and she found she preferred to have friends and allies after all.</p><p>She entered her room and pulled the covers back before taking both her jeans and her bra off. She kept only her tank top and her underwear on as she climbed in. She could use some rest. Not even Darlington dream time. Just rest would be alright for a change.</p><p>She closed her eyes and thought about why she wanted him back so badly. Was it because they had unfinished business or was it merely that she wanted to feel in control of something that had slipped away from her? If it worked, she would know soon enough. And if Darlington could help with Michelle and whatever unknown force gathered in the distance, then so much the better. With that thought, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to claim her.</p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div>She lay on her side once more in her dream, wearing nothing but the tank top and underwear she’d gone to sleep in. The arm slung around her waist gathered her close. Darlington’s voice drifted to her through the darkness from just behind her where he lay flush against her back.<p>“You are troubled this evening,” he said.</p><p>“You have no idea,” she muttered wearily. “Things are not going according to plan.”</p><p>He paused. “You will come for me,” he said with more surety than she felt.</p><p>But still she agreed. “Yes,” she said. “I’ll come for you.”</p><p>He nuzzled against the back of her neck and kissed her ear gently. “I could distract you from your cares.”</p><p>Alex laughed. “I just bet you could.”</p><p>“Would you like me to try?”</p><p>“Maybe,” she said with a small smile.</p><p>He made a pleased sound and murmured “I will do my very best, then,” before tugging on her hip to ease her onto her back. </p><p>She went willingly, and said, “See that you do.”</p><p>He gave a low laugh at her imperious tone, whispering, “As you command me.” </p><p>She let him ease the straps of her tank top down over her shoulders, baring her breasts. The air around her was warm and soothing, but her nipples turned to hard peaks when she felt his lips brush one, so soft that the caress was barely there. Then his teeth grazed gently against it, and she couldn’t hold in a small sound when he took the hard tip into his mouth and began to suck slowly and at leisure. His hand stroked her other breast, pinching her nipple lightly then sliding down the side of her body to her hip where he made gentle circles. When he began tugging gently on her underwear, she pushed them low, working them down and off her legs. </p><p>Her dreams had never gone this far before, and she couldn’t help but feel the thrill of it. The thrill of the forbidden. Even with her eyes closed, she felt exposed to him, especially when he set his hand against her lower stomach before reaching down to cup her almost reverently between her legs. Her body responded immediately, sensation shooting through her and warmth flooding her belly. Her nerves sang with pleasure when she moved her hips to rub herself against his hand. He responded by stroking up and down with his long fingers, finding the small bundle of nerves more quickly than anyone had ever done before besides herself.</p><p>“God,” she whispered as he touched her there, gentle but firm in his circling. “How do you know exactly how to touch me?”</p><p>He laughed again, lifting his head from her breast. “It is given to me now to know what you most desire.”</p><p>“Well, that’s definitely what I desire,” she gasped. “And what do <i>you</i> want?” She couldn’t help but wonder. </p><p>“I? I want nothing more than to please the one who will free me from this place. This prison.” He punctuated his words by kissing between her breasts then working his way lower on her body.</p><p>“Deal,” she said, pressing her head back against the pillow and arching her back as she realized what he intended.</p><p>“And is this what you want?” He asked as he kissed her stomach. She nodded and somehow she knew he could see her permission despite the darkness.</p><p>“And is this what you want?” He asked, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her hip as he let his tongue slide in a lascivious gesture against her skin.</p><p>Alex gave a quiet whimper and nodded again.</p><p>“And this?” He kissed her thigh, and Alex spread her legs open as she whispered “Yes. Jesus, yes.”</p><p>His final kiss pressed against her center, and she took a shaky breath. When he slid his tongue between her folds and began to lick his way up towards her clit, she reached down to grip his hair in her hands.</p><p>He paused and playfully asked, “Do you wish for me to stop, then?”</p><p>Alex gritted her teeth. “Don’t you dare,” she warned him.</p><p>“Then show me what you want,” he said with a hint of teasing in his voice before returning to using his tongue on her.</p><p>Alex gripped his hair harder and pressed him more firmly against her. He responded with gentle eagerness, pressing his tongue firmly against her clit and working it back and forth in a rhythm that felt like it was designed to torment her.</p><p>“God. Darlington…God…” she gasped, unable to formulate any other words. His low laugh vibrated through her, making her whimper and writhe against him. In return, he gripped her hips more firmly, anchoring her to the bed so that he could continue.</p><p>After what seemed like a long time and not nearly long enough, one of his hands slid down her hip and came to rest between her legs. She felt one of his fingers press against her entrance, and a needy sound escaped her. He raised his head slightly from her, causing her to grip his hair tighter again. </p><p>“This is what you want,” he whispered as he began to slowly slide first one finger and then a second inside her.</p><p>“Yes,” she gasped before he returned to using his tongue on her. The places he rubbed against while inside her body made her see stars, and she couldn’t hold in a broken moan as he continued to stroke her there. She couldn’t help but imagine how it would be if it was his cock instead of his hand. Somehow she knew that if she commanded him to, he would climb up her body and fuck her as hard and as long as she had ever wanted until she screamed with the pleasure of it. And he would do it gladly. </p><p>It seemed like nothing could top the sensations he pulled from her, particularly when mixed with her heated thoughts. But when he began to suck on her clit, it coaxed sounds out of her she didn’t remember ever having made before. There was no embarrassment at completely losing herself in front of him––only ecstasy and a sense of safety that let her unleash her pleasure. She suddenly felt an orgasm barreling towards her, rushing over her body in a wave that began to crest within her and drive all coherent thought from her head besides “This” and “Please” and “Now”.</p><p>She clutched his hair in her hands and pressed his face closer against her, her legs and arms shuddering with the intensity of it. He responded by thrusting his fingers deeper and faster inside her while sucking harder on the nerves that were going haywire beneath his treacherous mouth. At that, she threw her head back and exploded into what felt like a burst of starlight, spreading across the dark galaxy in a thousand dazzling, twinkling lights.</p><p>As she came down from her high, she felt Darlington climb back up her body and wrap his arms around her. She let him position her seemingly-boneless body alongside his with her head resting on his chest.</p><p>Alex sighed happily, saying, “That was… was… Fuck. 'Good’ doesn’t seem to cover it.” </p><p>He hummed, and the sound vibrated through her slightly. “I am glad you enjoyed it.”</p><p>She frowned. “We didn’t take care of you at all, though. A lot of guys wouldn’t be satisfied with that.”</p><p>“I am quite satisfied with 'that’, and you seemed to need my mouth and my touch as much as you needed anything else. Besides, I would happily lay between your thighs for a thousand years to hear such beautiful sounds.”</p><p>“So poetic,” she teased. “Much fancier than if I said, ‘Thanks Darlington for getting your ass in gear and going down on me. I just came like a train wreck.’”</p><p>She startled a laugh out of him that was as much a cough as anything else. There was nothing in the world like shocking prim Darlington. Even if it was Demon Darlington now.</p><p>After a long moment, he asked, “What was it that so upset you this evening?”</p><p>Alex sobered at the question. “Michelle,” she said simply. “Something happened to her. Some kind of spell, and we don’t know how to fix it yet. It’s hard to know what to do next.”</p><p>Darlington lay quiet at that news. Finally, he responded by saying, “I am trusting you to pull me from this place. I do not believe you would leave me here.”</p><p>Alex felt herself nodding. “I’m coming for you. Don’t worry.” </p><p>“Then I have nothing to fear,” he said simply before brushing her hair back from her face gently. “Sleep, now,” he said. “I will watch over your dreams.” </p><p>As if her consciousness had been tied to his words, she felt herself drift slowly and inexorably into a dreamless, formless darkness. Something about it made her feel safer than she ever had been in her entire life.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you all again for reading and for the lovely comments! I love the encouragement and knowing that there are other fellow Ninth House fans out there :) I really do intend to post once a week when possible, so hopefully last week was a fluke...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Friday September 17th - 1:00pm</p><p>Alex woke to sunlight streaming in through the curtains and a feeling of being rested for the first time in months. Her phone was dead, and the alarm hadn’t gone off. She realized she’d missed her first class of the day and half of her second class, but she couldn’t quite bring herself to care for once. Sitting up in bed, she yawned and stretched her arms before climbing out and pulling on an oversized Lethe sweatshirt and some leggings she’d brought from her dorm a few weeks earlier.</p><p>She brushed her teeth in the bathroom and looked in the mirror at a girl whose face was determined and practically glowing. Today was the day. It was finally going to be the night of the new moon, and she was going to go to hell. The thought should have terrified her, but she felt only anticipation. If only Michelle wasn’t in danger and potentially Dawes and herself as well, then Alex would have said this was the happiest she’d been in ages.</p><p>As she made her way out of the room and down the hall, Alex heard a dull thud coming from the area of the library. She inched her way towards the bookcase and found it swung open to reveal the two stories of shelves inside. They were stacked to the brim with books, and Dawes held one in her hand that had clearly tumbled off the shelf from beside its fellows. Her face was somewhat pale and there were dark circles under her eyes.</p><p>“You alright there, Dawes?”</p><p>Dawes nodded, although it looked like her hands were trembling a bit as she put the book back on the shelf. “I was up all night trying to figure out what happened to Michelle and hoped to find a text that would say how to cure her.”</p><p>Alex nodded, guilt worming through her stomach at the idea that she too should have been up all night trying to help Michelle instead of rolling around in the dark with Darlington in her dreams. Not that she could help what she dreamed, even though she’d greatly enjoyed it, to say the least.</p><p>“Find anything good?”</p><p>“No. Nothing good,” Dawes said as she sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Only that she’s either been attacked by a malevolent spirit or something even worse.”</p><p>Alex frowned. “Well, I didn’t see any spirits around when Michelle collapsed. Wouldn’t I have noticed something?”</p><p>“You should have, yes. If you didn’t, that might mean it’s something else or that she was infected by the spirit earlier in the day. I just don’t know. It could be a lot of things.”</p><p>“What I want to know is why,” Alex mused. “Why now? What’s changed?”</p><p>Dawes looked hesitant as if she didn’t want Alex to bite her head off. “You don’t think it’s because of what happened with Belbalm do you?”</p><p>Alex had sketched out the barest details of the Grays coming to her assistance against Belbalm. She most certainly hadn’t told her about being a Wheelwalker.</p><p>“What do you mean?”</p><p>“Well, it sounds like you did something that made a big mark in the spiritual plane. Maybe it lured something here.”</p><p>Alex’s brows drew together. </p><p>“Not that you did it on purpose,” Dawes hurried to say. “Just that <i>something</i> changed. And if it’s not that, then the only other thing I can think of was when we did the ritual to summon Darlington the first time.”</p><p>“So maybe one of those things brought something here,” Alex mused. She paused. “Well, I know one thing that turned up recently that may shed some light on this.”</p><p>Dawes looked at her curiously.</p><p>“I didn’t tell you, but my scholarship donor is Hiram Bingham III’s great-granddaughter. And as far as I know, she just came to town. Awfully suspicious timing, if you ask me.”</p><p>“What are you going to do? Nothing dangerous I hope.”</p><p>Alex gave a short laugh. “Nothing dangerous yet. But I will be asking her what the hell she’s doing here and what the hell she wants.” Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the simple card with Vinia’s name and phone number on it.</p><p>“We have a little time before we get to work tonight. I’ll go talk to her. She said she wanted to see me, so maybe she’ll give me some clue about what’s going on.”</p><p>Dawes nodded. “Ok. Do you want to take something from the stores to help ease the way? Or at least let me freshen up the <i>garde</i>. I could cleanse and recharge the stones in it.”</p><p>“Sure. Can’t hurt.”</p><p>Alex slid the bag from around her neck. “I can’t believe I’ve been wearing something full of cat hair and rocks all night.”</p><p>Dawes looked miffed. “Well, it worked didn’t it?”</p><p>“I suppose so.”</p><p>Alex handed over the charm, and took an involuntary breath as she did so.</p><p>“The house is warded enough that I don’t think anything could get in if we didn’t want it to,” Dawes reassured her.</p><p>“Good to know. I’ll be in the kitchen making some coffee. You look like you could use some, too.” With that, she left the library and made her way down the stairs. The light coming in from the entryway’s stained glass windows coloured the room in an array of purples and reds. It was a beautiful morning, and Alex’s sense of buoyancy returned.</p><p>Dawes joined her in the kitchen not long after, handing Alex the bag which she slipped back on around her neck again.</p><p>“We should probably do that every day until this is all sorted out,” Dawes said as she accepted a cup of coffee.</p><p>“Shouldn’t we be getting you one?”</p><p>“I’ll make one up as soon as I can get my hands on enough ingredients and have the stones blessed.”</p><p>“Who does that?”</p><p>“For the <i>garde</i>? A woman in town named Ruby Jones. She takes care of our more…esoteric materials.”</p><p>“What does that mean?”</p><p>Dawes pushed her hair behind her ears. “She’s a Conjure woman.”</p><p>“A what now?”</p><p>“A Conjure woman. She practices Hoodoo. The African-American version of Voudoun,” Dawes clarified at Alex’s blank expression. “Anything I can’t get sanctified by the Catholic Church or my Wiccan contact, I take to her.”</p><p>“How do you know all this stuff, Dawes?”</p><p>Dawes shrugged. “It’s my job. Ruby and I usually make contact on Sundays when she’s in town for the Farmer’s Market. I’ll try to get ahold of her today, though.”</p><p>“Okay. As long as you get one soon.”</p><p>Alex pulled out her phone and typed in the number on Vinia’s card. It rang a few times before a familiar melodic voice answered.</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Uh, hi. This is Alex Stern.”</p><p>“Alex! I’m so glad you contacted me. Did you think about what I said, and do you want to meet?”</p><p> Alex hesitated before saying, “Yeah. I have some questions.”</p><p>“Well come on over anytime today. And don’t eat anything. We can have something together as soon as you’re out of your classes. You still have my address, I assume.” </p><p>“Yeah,” Alex confirmed, looking at the address to wherever Vinia lived that the woman had scrawled on the back of the card. “See you soon.” She hung up as soon as Vinia returned the words.</p><p>As soon as the phone went silent, she turned to Dawes. “I’ll be back. Stay in the house until tonight if you can’t reach your Conjure woman. I’ll meet you here as soon as I’m done with Vinia.”</p><p>Dawes nodded, and Alex picked up the keys to Darlington’s car and left the house. As she opened the car door, she heard a throat being cleared behind her. She whirled around and found herself staring at North who stood a few feet away.</p><p>“Goddamnit, North. Stop sneaking up on me.”</p><p>“My apologies,” he said, formal as ever. “I wished to speak with you about recent events.”</p><p>“You mean Michelle.”</p><p>North nodded. “We spirits talk, and all are keeping abreast of what’s happening on campus and throughout New Haven.”</p><p>“What’s your take on it, then?” Alex asked, leaning against the car door before shaking her head. “Scratch that. Get in and you can tell me on the way to wherever it is I’m going.”</p><p>North stared at her. “You wish for me to ride in this contraption with you?”</p><p>“Yeah, what’s the big deal?”</p><p>North considered Darlington’s car. “It’s not something I have ever done before.”</p><p>“First time for everything, North. Get in.”</p><p>The Gray gingerly climbed into the passenger side of the car, sliding straight through the metal door and into the seat where he sat very upright, his hands clenched. Alex smirked at his expression when she started the car up and pulled away from the curb.</p><p>“Easy there, North. You look like you’re about to have a heart attack. If you weren’t already dead, that is.”</p><p>North turned his head enough from staring at the road before them to give Alex a withering look. “Do you wish to hear my news or not?”</p><p>“Sure. Let’s hear it. Do you know what happened to Michelle?”</p><p>“Sadly, none of us know what happened to Ms. Alameddine. However, I can assure you it was not one of us.”</p><p>“Not a Gray, you mean.”</p><p>He shook his head. “Whatever is playing havoc with the Veil and attacking your mentor is much bigger. And I fear it is only the beginning.”</p><p>Alex thought of Dawes’ words from earlier. She hesitated. “You don’t think it’s something to do with Daisy do you?”</p><p>North startled then went still. “Daisy is gone.”</p><p>“You sure about that?”</p><p>“I am quite sure.”</p><p>Alex felt a measure of relief at those words even if it didn’t solve the problem of what was really going on. When she pulled up outside a large, obviously expensive townhouse overlooking the river, she knew she’d found the right place.</p><p>“Fancy,” she muttered as she climbed out of the car. North appeared alongside her a moment later, clearly relieved to be on solid ground.</p><p>When they approached the front door, a strange look crossed his face. “It’s warded,” he told her. He reached a hand out towards the door and jerked it back a moment later. “Powerfully warded.”</p><p>“This really is the right place, then. I guess you can’t go in with me. Hopefully I can figure out who the hell this woman is and get out quick.”</p><p>“I will wait here for you,” North said, looking up at the window when a curtain moved.</p><p>“You don’t have to do that,” Alex protested. “I’ll be fine.”</p><p>“I’ll wait,” North repeated, his mouth set into a firm line.</p><p>“Suit yourself.” Alex turned and knocked on the front door. The door flew open a moment later. Vinia stood before her wearing a long black shirt-dress and red heels. Who wore heels indoors? Alex wondered. Clearly, this woman was secretly a monster.</p><p>“Alex,” she exclaimed. “Come in, come in.” As Alex entered, Vinia eyed the pouch around her neck. “Lovely protection charm. You won’t need anything like that, though. My wards are reliable.”</p><p>Alex climbed the stairs just beyond the front door at Vinia’s urging and found herself in a minimalist loft space. There were only a few pieces of art on the walls alongside a large tablet resting on a pedestal. An image dominated the center of the tablet where a naked woman rested who had wings as well as arms.</p><p>“Ereshkigal,” Vinia said as she caught Alex trying to make out the carvings on the tablet’s surface. “The Mesopotamian queen of the underworld. I was a Classics major, and I couldn’t resist acquiring a few pieces.”</p><p>Alex turned from the stone to ask, “So are you planning on moving here permanently or something?”</p><p>“Or something,” Vinia said with a coy smile. “Lunch first.”</p><p>Gritting her teeth, Alex followed her to a table laid out with a large salad and a bottle of wine.</p><p>“Sit, please,” Vinia gestured to a chair, and Alex took a seat grudgingly.</p><p>“So why am I here?” she asked. The <i>garde</i> around her neck was a reassuring presence.</p><p>“You’re here because I have something you want, and you have something I want,” Vinia replied as she poured two glasses of wine. She took a long sip before saying, “Have you ever heard of the Acacia Fraternity?”</p><p>The name scratched at the back of Alex’s mind like an itch. It sounded so familiar, she just couldn’t place it. Then she remembered Darlington pestering her to do the homework he‘d assigned, and in return she’d read the opening of <i>The Life of Lethe</i> before skimming the rest.</p><p>“They formed Lethe House,” she said, and Vinia nodded.</p><p>“In 1898 along with Wolf’s Head and Skull &amp; Bones. My great-grandfather was a part of Acacia and they were a powerful Society in their own right.”</p><p>“Then how come they’re not still around?”</p><p>Vinia waved a hand. “Politics. Why else?”</p><p>Alex remembered what Michelle had said. “That’s not how I heard it. I heard your grandfather was kicked out on his ass from Lethe and Yale for something he did.”</p><p>Vinia’s mouth thinned into a line, but her voice was still pleasant as she said, “There were some misunderstandings and disagreements.”</p><p>Alex crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. “That sounds like not the whole story.”</p><p>“Acacia was disbanded in 1914, only a few years after Hiram Bingham III brought the artifacts that included your Crucible back from Peru. I’m afraid the ingrates at Yale decided that its acquisition along with the founding of Lethe wasn’t enough from our family when a dispute between Acacia and the other Societies reared its head.”</p><p>“What was the dispute?” Alex asked, still suspicious.</p><p>Vinia waved a hand dismissively. “The usual power plays among the Societies. Skull &amp; Bones are the oldest while Scroll &amp; Key or Book &amp; Snake follow along where they lead in terms of policies.”</p><p>“Your dead Society doesn’t seem like it has anything to do with me.”</p><p>“On the contrary! It has everything to do with you as the Dante of Lethe House.”</p><p>Alex knew she looked skeptical. “I don’t have anything to do with the politics around the Societies, and I don’t want to have anything to do with them. I keep an eye on things. That’s all.”</p><p>“And that’s exactly what I want from you. All I need is for you to be my eyes and ears as far as what the other Societies are doing. Just tell me if anything seems amiss.” </p><p>Her cryptic phrasing put Alex’s hackles up, and she still didn’t trust that this woman didn’t have something to do with Michelle’s collapse. “That can’t be all you want. You sound like you’re trying to pull a con. I’ve known a lot of people who talk like you do, and they never had anyone’s best interest at heart except for their own.”</p><p>Alex fully expected the other woman to toss her out on her ear, but instead of getting angry, Vinia tilted her head back and laughed. “Oh, I like you,” she cackled. Her face settled into a smile. “I have a lot of money, Alex, and what I’m offering you is financial stability. More than that, I’m offering you freedom from Lethe. Think it over.”</p><p>“What do you mean, ‘freedom from Lethe’?”</p><p>“I mean that I know the Societies. They never want something for nothing. Me, on the other hand, I’m going to be up front about what we can offer each other.” She waited to refill her wine glass, then swirled it lightly before taking a sip. “You need funding if you’re going to retain some semblance of independence, which I’m guessing you value or you wouldn’t still be sitting here talking to me. </p><p>Alex had heard enough fairy tales and seen enough movies to know she shouldn’t accept the kind of blank check this woman was offering. But. The money Vinia offered <i>would</i> be the perfect leverage over Lethe House to let them know she wasn’t their puppet.</p><p>“That’s seriously all you want?” She asked warily.</p><p>Vinia paused. “Well, that and for you to keep an eye out for a certain artifact. The Crucible was one of the many artifacts Hiram brought back from Machu Picchu, but that wasn’t everything of course. There was also a stone. It was a favorite possession of Acacia--particularly to my grandfather--and I'd like to get my hands on it if I can.</p><p>“Stealing a magical rock for you sounds like a lot more than keeping my eyes and ears open.” </p><p>“I simply want what is due to my family. You can keep the Crucible for all I care. It’s useless for my purposes.”</p><p>“And what are your purposes?”</p><p>Vinia gave Alex a long, measured look. “I want to bring back Acacia. I want the tomb we once had, and I want all of the power and influence that would entail.”</p><p>“What happened to the tomb?”</p><p>Vinia’s voice was dry. “There’s currently a building on top of it.”</p><p>“Well, that’s that, then.”</p><p>Vinia rolled her eyes. “With enough money, buildings can be toppled and rebuilt. It’s called philanthropy, and this university thrives on it. My contributions wouldn’t be for a vanity project like the Student Center, though. My tomb would open back up the possibility of a more equal footing between Lethe and the Societies.</p><p>“Lethe is fine the way it is.”</p><p>“Really. So you don’t rely on the Societies for your funding? You’re not at the mercy of far more powerful forces?” Vinia shook her head. “You’ve seen how capricious the Societies and the board can be. Look at St. Elmo or Aurelian. Even Berzelius. It’s high time the Societies had new blood. Or old blood as the case may be. But there could be a rebalancing, and Lethe could become a player in the larger game.”</p><p>“And what game is that exactly?”</p><p>“Why, the game of power and who wins it. </p><p>Alex shook her head. “I’m not interested in those kinds of games.”</p><p>“If you were smart about this, you would be.” Vinia held up a hand at Alex’s expression. “Just think about what I can offer you and consider doing what I’m asking of you. It would be worth it for you in the long run.”</p><p>Alex pushed her chair back and stood. “I need to think about this.”</p><p>Vinia inclined her head. “I’m sure you do. But don’t take too long. I want to make my case in front of the Societies’ Board fairly soon. I’ll need all the information I can have at my disposal before then.”</p><p>“Like I said, I'll think about it.” With that, Alex grabbed her bag and headed for the stairs. There was definitely something up with Vinia, Alex thought, but she didn’t have a good enough read on whether or not the woman had the capability of attacking Michelle.</p><p>A wind had picked up, and it howled like a banshee around the door as she stepped out onto the street. North stood next to the car on the other side of the street looking wary.</p><p>“What?” Alex called out to him as she headed for the BMW.</p><p>“I’ll tell you once we are gone,” North called back. “The sooner the better, if you don’t mind.”</p><p>Alex slid into the driver’s seat and started the car while North materialized beside her. As she drove back towards the house on Orange, she waited as he seemed to be gathering his thoughts.</p><p>“Well?” she finally asked.</p><p>“There was something very wrong about that house, Miss Stern.”</p><p>“No kidding. There’s a crazy lady living in it.”</p><p>North shook his head. “I am afraid it’s more than that. I couldn’t detect anything past the wards, but as soon as you stepped inside, it was as if something woke up. There was a power shift. Whoever—or whatever—is inside is something older and more powerful than I have ever encountered.”</p><p>“So she <i>is</i> connected to whatever is going on.”</p><p>“I am sure of it.”</p><p>“Well, if whatever she’s connected to is so powerful, I’ll just have to wait until Darlington’s here to sort it out.”</p><p>When Alex glanced over at North to gauge his reaction, she saw his teeth were clenched.</p><p>“Ms. Stern. I must insist that you not do any such thing. If you had thought this through in any way, then you would not be contemplating it.”</p><p>“I have to do this, North. It’s Darlington,” she said somewhat helplessly.</p><p>“Is it?” He asked, and his voice was almost pitying.</p><p>“If it’s not him, then I won’t do it. But if there’s even a little of him left, I have to at least try.”</p><p>North shook his head. “Even that is too much.” As she pulled up to the curb, he seemed to be choosing his words with care. “Alex. I am asking you, please do not open the door to that thing. It is not Darlington. You can’t trust whatever it says or does.”</p><p>His use of her first name once more surprised her, but it didn’t matter to her in the end. “Like you’re the expert,” she argued as she turned the car off, turning to face him. “Are you seriously going to lecture me on who to trust?”</p><p>North looked angry for the first time. “That was different… Daisy was different.”</p><p>“Oh really. And if you could have saved <i>her</i> in the end, then I think you would have. Even after everything she did to you and me and to all those girls.” Alex drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. “You’re pissing me off, North.”</p><p>North was quiet for a moment, his expression tight. “I can stop you, you know,” he said finally.</p><p>Alex’s fingers stilled. She felt a flare of fear at the implication that he could take her over as she’d once taken him over. That fear was quickly followed by rage. “You could try,” she gritted out before giving an ugly laugh. “Hey, North? ‘It is enough; the end and the beginning are one thing to thee, who art past the end.’”</p><p>North fought the words for a moment. “You will regret doing this,” he said finally. His voice was tight as he struggled. But in the end he was gone, sliding out of the car and disappearing down the street without a backward glance.</p><p>Alex sat in the car in the sudden silence. Maybe North was right, she thought. But even as the words crossed her mind, she shook herself and it reminded her of what she had promised and how Michelle now needed their help as well since whatever Vinia was plotting, it couldn’t be good. They needed all the help they could get. She tried to convince herself that was all there was to it as she crossed to Il Bastone’s door and entered.</p><p>“Dawes?” she called, but there was no answer. When Alex found the other girl crashed on the couch in the parlor, she decided to let her sleep and tiptoed out of the room. The library called to her, and there had to be something about the Acacia Fraternity in it. Perhaps that something would shed light not only on what Vinia wanted, but also on how she was affecting the Societies and how she had potentially taken out Michelle.</p><p>Reaching the bookcase in the second floor hallway, Alex pulled the Albemarle Book from the shelf and flipped it open to the page where all Dawes’ recent entries were located. They were all variations on questions about spirits and about magical disease. Instead, Alex scrawled onto the page the name of the defunct Society. When she put it back, the bookcase began its usual rattling and wordless complaining as the portal spell took hold. She pulled the shelf forward to reveal the inner chamber and the books that sat inside waiting on the shelves. There weren’t as many as she had assumed there would be.</p><p>Pulling the closest one off the shelf, she flipped through it to try to get a sense of the history of the Society. She typed a few notes into her phone as she came across useful phrases. In the style of the Bonesmen, they’d been called the Weavers from the literal translation of Acacia. Their specialty seemed to have been influencing events not unlike Aurelian, although it was unclear how exactly they’d done it. There was something about hallucinogens and a history of drawing on Babylonian symbols…and there was not much else. Absolutely nothing seemed to be written down about why or how the Society had been disbanded. It was as if it had been stricken from the recorded literature of the Societies.</p><p>Alex stacked the books back onto the shelf once she was finished with them. Perhaps Dawes would want to give them a go to see if she could uncover anything else. It didn’t seem likely, though. There just wasn’t anything else there.</p><p>Alex checked her watch as she left the library. It was still several hours until midnight when they would attempt the summoning ritual on Darlington. Wandering into the kitchen, she pulled a bottle of wine out of a rack on the kitchen counter and pulled the cork out before taking a large sip straight from the neck. She lifted it into the air in mock salute.</p><p>“We’re coming for you, Darlington. See you in a few.” There was no way he could hear her—outside of her dreams, anyway—but it felt for a moment like he was there already. Whether she or North would prove to be correct about his state of mind, there was only one way to find out. Alex took a long drink as she looked out the window where the sun made its slow path towards setting and whispered, “I’m trusting you. So don’t let me down. Prove North wrong.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Friday, September 17th - 10:30pm</p>
<p>By the time Dawes woke up, Alex had gone through most of a bottle of wine, and her fingers and toes were pleasantly tingling and warm. She sat at the kitchen counter with her head propped up on one hand and looked up when she heard a rustling at the doorway. Dawes looked rumpled and sleepy, but her gaze sharpened as soon as her eyes lit on Alex.</p>
<p>“Have you been drinking?” Dawes demanded, her expression horrified.</p>
<p>Alex looked down at the empty glass she’d been contemplating. “Uh, yeah? I don’t see what’s so wrong with that.”</p>
<p>Dawes tapped her foot in a way that spoke volumes about her irritation. “We’re going to try to perform a ritual to send you to hell and pull a demon into the mortal world. I’d prefer that both of us were completely sober when that happens.”</p>
<p>Alex sighed. “Give me a break, Dawes. I’ll be fine by the time we get there. Things have been a little much lately.”</p>
<p>“Well, we need to start the ritual at midnight in a few hours. I’m assuming we’re still headed to Rosenfeld?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. We can’t exactly do it at Black Elm after Sandow banned Darlington from there. Why can’t we do it here again?”</p>
<p>Dawes shook her head. “The wards would be destroyed, and we need them if we’re going to keep ourselves and all the artifacts protected. Especially now.”</p>
<p>“Then Rosenfeld basement it is. God knows St. Elmo isn’t using the space.” Alex got to her feet and only stumbled slightly.</p>
<p>Dawes watched her with something like concern on her face. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were nervous about tonight.”</p>
<p>“Nervous? About hell? It’s not a big deal. I just get in, grab Darlington, get out. No problem. It’ll be fine.” Alex realized she was babbling slightly. She drew a breath. “Ok, maybe I’m a tiny bit nervous. But go big or go home, right?”</p>
<p>“This is a big deal, Alex,” Dawes said carefully. “You might not come back. Are you sure you want to do this? You need to be really sure.”</p>
<p>“I’m sure. I’ve got this. You have everything we need, right?”</p>
<p>Dawes took her phone out of her pocket and gave a few taps to the screen. “All the physical items are in my backpack in the hallway, and my notes are right here.”</p>
<p>“We may as well get going, then,” Alex said as she looked down at her watch. It was after ten-thirty already. “I’m guessing it has to be exactly at midnight.”</p>
<p>Dawes looked down at her phone. “According to Loisel, ‘With its deep and silent darkness, midnight constitutes an important moment for ritual procedures and demonic activities.’” She looked back up at Alex. “I looked up every historical accounting of demonic summoning I could find along with every scholarly analysis of those historical accounts.”</p>
<p>“I get it, Dawes,” Alex laughed. “You’re prepared. I just hope all those accounts actually add up to something that works.”</p>
<p>Dawes bit her lip. “It should. We’ll know soon enough if it doesn’t.”</p>
<p>“You mean as in if we can’t open a doorway?”</p>
<p>“I’m not too worried about opening the doorway. I’m more worried about if we accidentally open a doorway and then we can’t close it again or if we close it with you on the wrong side of it.”</p>
<p>Alex shrugged. “We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.” She picked up her own phone and stuffed it in her bag before following Dawes into the foyer.</p>
<p>“Do you want to call anyone on the way there?” Dawes asked her as she plucked her keys out of a bowl on a side table next to the coat rack.</p>
<p>The question confused Alex for a moment. “Like who?”</p>
<p>“I don’t know. Your mom maybe? I called my dad before I went to sleep earlier. Just in case.”</p>
<p>Alex pulled out her phone and considered it for a moment. Then she texted her mom.</p>
<p>
  <i>Going to be busy the next few days. Might not answer or text much.</i>
</p>
<p>She paused before typing in <i>Love you</i>. Then she erased it. Wouldn’t be a good idea to give Mira the impression something was up, she thought. Casual was better.</p>
<p>“Ok, I’m good to go. If something does go wrong, then text Centurion and hopefully he can help.”</p>
<p>Dawes nodded. “He could at least take care of what’s left of us if it doesn’t work.”</p>
<p>“Jesus, Dawes. Let’s just hope it doesn’t go that far south.” Alex pulled open the door and stepped out into the cool night air. Dawes followed behind her, and they set off down the few blocks to the corner of Grove and Orange. Rosenfeld Hall was close enough to walk, and the chilly breeze helped drive away the muzziness from the bottle of wine.</p>
<p>By the time they’d arrived at Rosenfeld, Alex felt sober as a judge. She pulled out her key and unlocked the door once they’d made sure campus security wasn’t around to see them enter. Dawes scurried in behind her, and Alex turned on the flashlight on her phone so they could see where they were going. </p>
<p>“I’ve never been in here,” Dawes said, looking around at the office spaces and cubicles. “This definitely doesn’t look like what I’d expected of a tomb.”</p>
<p>“Wait until we get there. Be prepared for a lot of stairs,” Alex said as she unlocked the door to the storeroom. They picked their way around the piles of old dorm furniture, and she tracked her way to the back to the all-too-familiar door that led to the true heart of Rosenfeld and the old St. Elmo space. As she and Dawes descended the three floors into the basement, Alex’s pulse began to pick up. She cleared her throat.</p>
<p>“So, will this go okay as a two-man job, or is this one of those things where it’s the more the merrier?”</p>
<p>Dawes made a small sound from behind Alex. “To be honest, it’s probably best that it’s the two of us in particular.”</p>
<p>“Why’s that,” Alex asked as they picked their way across the final sub-basement floor with its detritus and cracked glass tanks. Shadows hung in heavy swathes throughout the room, festooning the corners and ceiling with grim reminders that all light came to die here in this room where Darlington had disappeared. Their steps echoed strangely in the space filled with junk along its far walls with a center cleared of all debris. The jostling of the layers of refuse dislodged a spider that began to pick its way across the floor near her foot. Alex restrained the urge to crush it. She looked back to see Dawes almost run into what looked like a stuffed hyena. </p>
<p>Dawes righted herself. “Um, well, it turns out that although we would have been a powerful representation of the triple-goddess if we had Michelle with us, it’s even more powerful that we’re both…uh…murderers.” </p>
<p>“You’re kidding,” Alex said, surprised. “Seriously?</p>
<p>“Seriously. It’s easier to commune with a demon when your soul is tarnished. Or that’s the gist of my readings, anyway.”</p>
<p>Alex gritted her teeth. “My soul’s not ‘tarnished.’ And neither is yours. Killing Blake and Belbalm was in self-defense. For both of us.” Alex had long ago decided that Dawes didn’t need to know about her and Hellie’s vengeance in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>“Oh, I know that,” Dawes said. “It’s just that magic isn’t usually very concerned with technicalities, just the black and white facts. You’ve killed someone, and I’ve killed someone. Two plus two equals…”</p>
<p>Alex raised an eyebrow. “Some demon-raising?”</p>
<p>“Yeah.” Dawes said as she shrugged. “That’s the theory, anyway.”</p>
<p>“Time to find out if the theory’s right, then. We should get started. Clock’s ticking.”</p>
<p>Dawes nodded as she unslung her backpack from her shoulders. “God, it’s creepy in here. It really is an appropriate setting for everything.” The shadows lightened somewhat when she switched on a flashlight as big as a lantern and propped it up on four feet so that the beam shone across the floor before them. If anything, it made the space creepier.</p>
<p>Alex switched her phone’s light off to conserve battery. “Yeah. Fitting.”</p>
<p>“Here. Draw a large circle with this,” Dawes said, handing her a bag of salt. It reminded Alex of when Darlington had grilled her on her first day all about Grays.</p>
<p>
  <i>Salt is a purifier, so it’s good for banishing demons—though to my great sorrow I’ve never personally had the honor.</i>
</p>
<p>Oh, Darlington, she thought. If you’d only known then what you know now.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to banish Darlington, though. Won’t the salt get in the way?” she asked.</p>
<p>Dawes looked up from laying out her tools and ingredients and gave Alex an approving look that felt only the slightest bit patronizing. “Normally, you’d be right. Salt is perfect for banishing, but it’s also going to create a strong barrier between whatever you bring back here and the rest of the world in case what you bring back isn’t really Darlington.”</p>
<p>“Great. That sounds…just great.”</p>
<p>Dawes straightened. “I told you this was going to be a lot. Just be sure that it’s Darlington you’re talking to when you get in there. There are a lot of trickster spirits roaming around hell dimensions if what I’ve read is correct.” She pulled a lighter out of her pocket and lit a cone of incense that she put in a burner on the ground before pouring out a bowlful of brown crystals and setting it on the ground beside the incense. When she lit that as well and coaxed a small flame, pungent smoke began to billow from the crystals.</p>
<p>“What on earth is that?”</p>
<p>“Incense and myrrh resin,” Dawes said, scarcely distracted from her task as she laid out more incense cones and bowls around the circle Alex had drawn. The air was quickly becoming saturated with a heavy, cloying smell.</p>
<p>“God, that reeks.”</p>
<p>Dawes huffed as she pulled out a large velvet pouch from her backpack. “It’s going to smell a lot better than what you’re about to go into. Hell is supposed to smell like sulfur, although maybe not in the particular dimension you’re going to.” She opened the pouch. “Take your shirt off. And your shoes.”</p>
<p>Alex grimaced. “The shoes? Really? It’s disgusting down here.”</p>
<p>“You can leave your socks on, I suppose.”</p>
<p>“You’re too kind, Dawes,” she muttered as she pulled her shoes off and then removed her coat and her shirt so she stood shivering in her black jeans and bra. Dawes ignored her discomfort and stepped forward to start drawing symbols on Alex’s chest with charcoal. Then she began to tie black silk cords laced through pieces of what looked like obsidian around her arms and torso and ankles.</p>
<p>“This is weird, Dawes.”</p>
<p>Dawes gave a dry laugh. “It’s about to get a lot weirder, believe me.”</p>
<p>“Tell me you’re not pulling anything that breathes out of that bag next.”</p>
<p>“Oh! No. Nothing like that. I was very relieved that this particular ritual only requires chanting, sacred knots, and a human subject. No ritual sacrifice required.”</p>
<p>“Grand,” Alex drawled. “Although, I’m guessing you’ll be doing the chanting since I did volunteer to be the human subject.”</p>
<p>“It’s both of us chanting, actually. I’m using parts of Reginald Thompson’s <i>Devils and Evil Spirits of Babylonia</i>. We’ll just have to hope his translations were accurate.” </p>
<p>Alex snorted. “Don’t let us down, Reggie. What am I going to see while I’m in there, anyways?”</p>
<p>Dawes frowned. “Any number of things. I couldn’t find much of anything about what the different dimensions look like. Some are supposed to be darkness without form and some are the classic fire and brimstone.”</p>
<p> “I’m crossing my fingers on less fire and more dark, then.”</p>
<p>Dawes checked her phone after she tied the last of the knots in the cords. “Shit,” she muttered. “We have five minutes.” She looked up at Alex and blew out a long breath. “This is your last chance to bow out. I won’t hold it against you if you do.”</p>
<p>“Yes, you will,” Alex said with a small, grim smile. “Ok. I’m getting in the circle. Do your thing.”</p>
<p>Dawes stepped forward and pulled Alex into an unexpected hug, gripping her tight for a moment before letting her go. “Be careful. And make sure it’s Darlington before you bring him back.”</p>
<p>“I will,” Alex said, her voice almost cracking with emotion at the kindness from Dawes. “And thanks for doing this with me.”</p>
<p>Dawes nodded, handing her a notecard. “Of course. Now, put your shirt back on and climb in.”</p>
<p>Alex put her head and arms through her shirt and pulled it back on. Then she took a firm grip on the notecard and stepped into the center of the circle. They both examined the salt lines for any breaks in them. There were none, and Dawes stepped back before taking a deep breath.</p>
<p>“Don’t interrupt me after I’ve begun unless you absolutely have to,” she said. “And repeat the words on the card until you can’t say them anymore.”</p>
<p>Alex thought that sounded awfully ominous, but she lifted the paper to eye level and began to read along with Dawes in a kind of duet when she raised her voice.</p>
<p>“Uttuku limnu alû limnu ekimmu limnu gallû limnu ilu lumnu rabisu limnu,” Dawes chanted and Alex read the words simultaneously. Alex continued to say the phrase, slowly at first, and then with more confidence as she memorized them.</p>
<p>“Uttuku limnu alû limnu ekimmu limnu gallû limnu ilu lumnu rabisu limnu…Uttuku limnu alû limnu ekimmu limnu gallû limnu ilu lumnu rabisu limnu…” </p>
<p>Dawes began interspersing the words with the line, “Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu ardat lilî…”</p>
<p>They read the words over and over, their voices overlapping and growing in confidence. Dawes’ voice began to grow in volume, and Alex echoed her. </p>
<p>After several minutes of the chanting, though, she began to feel a little silly. Nothing seemed to be happening. Maybe this was all for nothing, and she’d be destined to have the memory of spending a wasted night in a basement yelling some kind of weird language while breathing in smoke that made her half want to cough and half want to throw up. </p>
<p>It’s over, she thought to herself.</p>
<p>Then a low whispering hum started in the air, and something like static electricity rushed over Alex’s skin.</p>
<p>The hair on her arms rose, and her eyes shot to Dawes whose eyes were just as wide as she continued to half chant and half yell. </p>
<p>“Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu ardat lilî! Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu ardat lilî! Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu ardat lilî!”</p>
<p>Dawes’ gaze shot to Alex’s other hand that held the small tablet confiscated from Scroll and Key. Dawes didn’t need to tell her it was time, and Alex thrust the tablet into her mouth and bit down hard.</p>
<p>A bitter taste flooded over her tongue, and starbursts blossomed before her eyes as if she’d looked too long into the sun. Something shimmered around her like heat on pavement on a burning California day. Blood rushed in her ears, and a flood of pins and needles filled her body.</p>
<p>Something was definitely happening.</p>
<p>She tried to continue chanting, but her tongue and mouth were going numb along with the rest of her. She began to cough instead, choking on the taste of the tablet and the smell of the incense and myrrh. Dawes didn’t stop, though. As if she’d expected it, she began to say the words even louder until it was one long shout.</p>
<p>“Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu ardat lilî! Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu ardat lilî! Labartu labasu ahhazu lilû lilîtu—”</p>
<p>The air filled with a tearing sound and the reek of sulfur exploded through the room.</p>
<p>And Alex was gone.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This was a really, really fun chapter to write. Any verisimilitude is thanks to Reginald Thompson's 1903 book on Babylonian demon rituals, and luckily that was about <i>banishing</i> demons, so I won't be accidentally raising anything with this chapter ;-) If you can't do bizarre research for a Ninth House fic, then when can you do bizarre research?</p>
<p>Thanks as always for reading! I can't tell you how much I appreciate you all!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've seriously been looking forward to this chapter. Like a lot. Thank you again for reading!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Between one blink and the next, Alex went from looking at the dim and dusty basement of Rosenfeld Hall to an even more dusty and dry plain of red rocks and blowing ash. The panorama stretched wide and vast around her. She turned and saw it continued in every direction. The only thing breaking the infinite stretch was what might have been mountains in the distance. It was hard to see clearly between the ash and the air shimmering in the heat. Alex checked her pockets for the Perdition Water that Dawes had pressed on her before they’d left Il Bastone. It was said to be collected from the seven rivers of hell, and was supposed to work against demons. Hopefully, it would be an insurance policy in case whatever showed up wasn’t Darlington but was instead one of the trickster spirits Dawes had mentioned. </p><p>Or something worse.</p><p>Alex reassured herself that the Scroll and Key tablet was still in her system. She and Dawes hadn’t been able to test how long the ability to open a portal would last, but surely it would be for a little while longer. Regardless, the clock was ticking, and the sooner Alex started the hound dog casting, the better. </p><p>She oriented herself towards what she was pretty sure was north. It would hopefully aid the call and draw Darlington forward. From her other pocket, she drew out a lighter and a small candle like something someone would put on an old-fashioned Christmas tree if they wanted to risk burning their house down. She flicked the lighter and thanked anyone who was listening that it worked and that the candle actually lit. Cupping her other hand around that wavering flame, she blocked the ash from falling on it and blotting it out. Then she began to whisper.</p><p>“Daniel Tabor Arlington. Come here to me. Ven aqui a mi. Kom hier naar mij. Venha aqui para mim.”</p><p>She blew out a long breath, then whispered the final words of the incantation.</p><p>“Come here to me. Daniel Tabor Arlington. I call you.”</p><p> On those words, something like a breeze whistled past her, startling her from her perusal of the landscape. It was like no breeze she had ever experienced in her own world, though. Alex realized there were voices in the swirling draft. Her ears caught what could only be words, but they were in a language she had never heard before. She had a feeling there was no language like it on earth––certainly not where she’d come from and planned to return to as quickly as humanly possible.</p><p>The voices rose to a shrieking pitch, and Alex fought the urge to clap her hands over her ears. It felt as if they latched onto her clothes and hair, dragging her away from where she’d entered through the portal. Her clothes almost tore as she jerked hard away from them and turned back only to see something like a thunderstorm on the horizon boiling and billowing towards them.</p><p>Streaks of what might pass for lightning whipped through the dark cloud, and the voices in the air fled past her as if frightened by whatever it was that was coming. Alex had the feeling she didn’t want to be here when that storm reached where she stood. She refused to leave until she’d caught at least a glimpse of Darlington, though, and she held her ground. The cloud drew closer and closer without slowing until the edge of the roiling energy slammed into her. </p><p>Darkness consumed her. It covered her eyes and stopped her ears, coating her skin like tar. A rumbling like thunder filled her body, and it was as if she had been swept into the middle of a tornado. It was unbearable, and Alex felt sure that if it continued for much longer she’d soon go mad. Then with something like a flash of light and a rush of wings, the darkness and the storm were gone.</p><p>And Daniel Tabor Arlington stood before her just as she had commanded.</p><p>He looked exactly like he had when he’d disappeared, dressed head to toe in black. She looked up to his face, and something smiled out of it at her. </p><p>And it wasn’t Darlington.</p><p>Whatever this thing was, it had black oil-slick eyes. Shark’s eyes. And they looked hungry.</p><p>Alex’s skin crawled for a moment, and her heart leaped even farther into her throat than it already was until she looked again for a second time when he made no movement to hurt her. She wasn’t sure how she knew, but she also knew somehow it wasn’t <i>not</i> Darlington, either. Maybe it just wasn’t quite the boy she’d known. This was Darlington stripped to the bone and down to what he truly was: someone who wanted with all his might and was willing to do anything to gain that want.</p><p>“Galaxy Maria Stern,” he said into the silence.</p><p>“Darlington,” she whispered, her voice coming out small and raspy. “Is it you?”</p><p>He nodded. “You called, and I came. As we promised each other.”</p><p>His words confused her for a moment until the horror dawned on her that all of their interactions hadn’t simply been dreams. They had been whatever passed for reality in this place. The thought swept over Alex in a wave, obliterating any sense of terror or wonder at his presence. Only a sense of embarrassment filled her at the thought of all the things he’d done to her. The things they’d done together.</p><p>She pushed the feeling aside. “Are you telling me it’s been you all this time in my dreams? How?” she demanded.</p><p>Darlington smirked at first—there was no other word for it—and nodded. As if he could sense her creeping feeling of shame, that smirk slid sideways into a small smile. “You opened a crack in the world when you performed the ritual alongside he who betrayed me. But you kept that crack open with your desire to see me again. It made it easy to reach out across the borders.” At her continued confusion, he elaborated, “I can commune with your world through any place where the borders between are thin. Dreams and places of magic are the thinnest. Your calling to me from New Haven was like a bell ringing through the void.”</p><p>Alex hoped it hadn’t been a dinner bell, but she didn’t feel as if she was in danger of Darlington eating her soul or trapping her for eternal torment in this place as Dawes had warned her might happen. Thank god, she thought. Instead, he reached out a hand to caress her cheek, tilting her chin slightly.</p><p>“You came as you promised,” he reiterated. “And now I am yours. Take me with you, and whatever you ask of me I will deliver unto you.”</p><p>Alex pulled away from him. “You don’t sound like you.”</p><p>Darlington frowned. “Time is flexible here. I have been trapped in this place with only the souls and the dark creatures for longer than I can say. It has left its mark.”</p><p>Alex thought of him alone here in this horrible, desolate place. She wondered what he’d done to survive and to thrive. What would she have been willing to do if it had been her sucked into hell and her who had lost a soul. She’d probably be willing to do a lot, too, to keep from losing anything else.</p><p>“Yeah. I can’t help but wonder what else this place has done to you.” She stared at him closely. “Do you have a soul or not, and what does that even mean? You’re definitely something different than how you were before. I mean...that thing <i>ate</i> you. How did you even survive?”</p><p>“I have changed,” he admitted. “And whether I have a soul or not, it is difficult to say. I lost much here that made me human. But there is still something of what I once was within me. I cannot describe it more than to say I still know what I was as Daniel Arlington.” </p><p>“Well that’s something,” Alex muttered.</p><p>Darlington nodded. “When I fell through into this world, I fought to remain whole. To not lose everything else. But there were parts of me that were taken, it is true. I woke the way you see me now.”</p><p>“And what are you now?”</p><p>He tilted his head and drew in a breath as if about to deliver a lecture. The gesture made Alex’s heart squeeze. It was so like the Darlington she’d once known when he’d rattled on about some part of Lethe’s history or a boring piece of protocol. It made her hope that maybe, just maybe he wasn’t completely gone. That there was a part of him that would remember what it was to be human.</p><p>“The ancients thought of it as there being three classifications of spirits in the universe: the devils like unto gods made of air and darkness bringing pestilence and disease; those who were half human and half demon that wreaked havoc on the world; and the souls of the dead who wandered the earth without rest.”</p><p>“And you’re one of the half human ones, then,” Alex said warily, not sure she wanted to bring back something that would “wreak havoc”.</p><p>He hesitated. “It is unclear what I am beyond one with the power to transform my shape, to move between planes and to speak in dreams and visions. </p><p>Alex clenched her fists. “I can’t take you back until I know for sure there’s still enough of you to be…well…you.”</p><p>“And what do you presume me to be?” he asked her. “We have spoken—and more than spoken—for longer than I can say from my perspective and for months from yours, I assume.” </p><p>Alex shook her head, frustrated. “I don’t know. Am I just seeing what I want to see? Is there enough Darlington left in you to make it worth the risk? That’s the big question.”</p><p>He gave her a sidelong look. “Free me, and I will be whatever it is you wish me to be.”</p><p>“Wrong answer,” Alex said, shaking her head.</p><p>Darlington grimaced. “Very well. Then tell me how I can convince you.”</p><p>Alex paused, then said slowly, “You can make a bargain with me. I hear that’s kind of the thing I’m supposed to do with whatever it is you are now.”</p><p>If he was hurt by her categorization of him as something not quite human, he didn’t show it.”</p><p>“Very well. What kind of bargain would please you best?”</p><p>Dawes had been very specific on this point. <i>Do not let him talk you into anything, and for god’s sake don’t bring him back until he’s bound his power to you.</i></p><p>“I want you to bind your power to me.”</p><p>Darlington froze for only a moment, but enough that Alex knew she’d struck a nerve. “I am already bound to you through your calling to me and our promises to each other in the darkness.”</p><p>“Not good enough,” Alex said, shaking her head.</p><p>A crack of lightning split the sky behind Darlington. It was far away towards the hulking shapes that looked like mountains, but it made her nervous. Darlington closed his eyes and seemed to take stock of the air around him by breathing it in. He opened his eyes and there was an urgency in their black depths.</p><p>“There are others coming. We must hurry,” he said. “Open the portal, and we may speak of this more when we have escaped back to your realm.”</p><p>Alex shook her head. “No. I’m not going to risk letting something with enough power to level the planet come back with me without having an agreement between us."</p><p>“Alex. With my full power intact, you could have whatever it is you desire. I could give you anything and more,” Darlington wheedled.</p><p>“What I <i>desire</i> is for you to do what I’m telling you to do.”</p><p>He clenched his jaw then closed his eyes once more and inhaled slowly. When he opened them again, they were back to being flat black and emotionless. Alex realized he’d been drawing her in ever since he’d arrived to stand in front of her. If he wasn’t trying to play her, it was an awfully close thing.</p><p>“Very well,” he said again, but it was practically a snarl this time. “What are your terms?”</p><p>Alex drew a breath of her own and let it out a little shakily. “I want your power to be limited to a fraction of what it is here. A tenth,” she said quickly, realizing she needed to be specific, “unless I specify otherwise. I want you to only use your power when I tell you it’s alright to use it or when it won’t hurt anyone or anything.” </p><p>“Are those all of your demands?”</p><p>Alex narrowed her eyes. Dawes had mentioned that three would be a stronger binding number. “Not quite yet. I want you to tie your life to mine so that while I’m alive you’ll be able to walk the earth. If I were to die, you would return here unless I willed it to be otherwise.</p><p>Darlington raised an eyebrow. “And were something to happen to you, I am to be sucked back here with no recourse?”</p><p>“Then you better make sure nothing happens to me.”</p><p>“Even were you to live a full mortal lifespan, sixty years is as nothing to me now.”</p><p>“Then you better hope I change my mind about you and fix the bargain while we’re at it.”</p><p>For a moment, Darlington surveyed her with what could only be a pleased expression as if she were a prize-winning student who had said the right answer or a dog that had done something particularly clever. She gritted her teeth. </p><p>He flashed a smile that was more terrifying than reassuring with its amount of teeth and said, “Then we are agreed. My freedom for a tenth of my power leashed under your control and tied to your lifespan.”</p><p>Alex nodded, thinking he had agreed to that awfully readily. </p><p>“Do you wish anything else for your terms?” he asked.</p><p>She shook her head. “That should cover it.”</p><p>Even as she said it, she tried desperately to think of what kind of loophole if any Darlington could use to free himself from her control. She didn’t trust him to still be himself yet, and she didn’t know what he wanted besides the chance to get out of this place. Although she couldn’t blame him for that, and maybe that relatively simple wish was enough.</p><p>“Excellent,” he said, and his relief was evident. “We have little time.”</p><p>She cleared her throat. “So how do we do this?” </p><p>Darlington paused then his eyes narrowed. “Like this,” he said before reaching out for her and yanking her against him. Before she could think to protest, he was kissing her. The feeling of his lips on hers, the scent of him surrounding her felt exactly like one of her dreams. The sensation of him kissing her was so familiar by now from her imagination—no, her visions—that she opened her mouth unthinkingly when she felt the gentle insistence of his tongue at the seam of her lips. Darlington made a sound low in his throat when she parted her lips and his tongue twined with hers. Warmth unfurled low in Alex’s stomach in response. She began to respond to him, forgetting herself and where she was for a moment and losing herself in the sensation. </p><p>He slid his hands into her hair, holding her steady. When she’d relaxed into his touch, he pulled back enough to run his tongue over her lower lip and nipped it gently before biting down hard. Alex jerked her head back from him, but he held her body still against his before kissing her again. There was a sharp sting for a moment when their lips met and she tasted her own blood. When he slid his tongue back into her mouth, something filled her senses as sweet as honey and bitter as when a dealer friend had handed her a terrible Old Fashioned cocktail he’d tried to mix.</p><p>She realized it was Darlington’s blood she tasted, and when it hit her tongue along with her own, it felt as if a door blasted open. Something unseen filled her with a rush of power matched only by the rush of desire that filled her completely. She’d never felt anything like it, and she swam in the sensation as waves of pleasure and adrenaline lapped at her body and her consciousness. After what might have been seconds or might have been years, Darlington pulled back. “There,” he said, on a ragged breath. “Through blood and breath we are bound.”</p><p>Alex stared at him. “What the hell was <i>that</i>?” she panted, both angry and still somewhat dazed, her body reacting in ways she didn’t want to analyze too much.</p><p>“That was the quickest way to seal a bargain,” Darlington said casually, although his eyes were still wide and his breathing still faster than normal. He also hadn’t let go of her.</p><p>Alex pulled away from him at last, although her body cried out at the loss of his touch. “I’ll accept your apologies later. We need to go,” she said, and reached for a piece of the dark cord Dawes had tied around her wrist earlier. She pulled free the knot holding it tight against her and reached for Darlington’s hand. She began to wrap it around their wrists to bind them together. As she began to pull the string taut, she heard another sharp crack of thunder and lightning. She glanced over his shoulder and saw an unending wall of storm clouds heading towards them.</p><p>“What is that?” she demanded as she tied the first knot carefully, murmuring the words Dawes had made her memorize over it.</p><p>“It is likely the princes of hell,” Darlington said. “It would be best if you hurried.” He seemed to have almost come back to himself from earlier, and there was an edge of urgency to his voice.</p><p>A gust of the invisible wind with its chattering voices swept around them as if fleeing the oncoming storm. Darlington reached out with his free hand, and his fingers shimmered and curved into black talons. Alex did her best to stay focused instead of staring at the transformation. </p><p>He swam his hand lazily through the whispering currents racing past them, and a keening like a scream rose up in Alex’s ears.</p><p>“What are you doing?” she demanded.</p><p>“Feeding,” he said as if it was the most casual thing in the world.</p><p>“On what?”</p><p>“The lost souls.”</p><p>Alex’s blood ran cold. “They’re souls. The voices. And you’re eating them.”</p><p>He nodded, a small smile drifting across his features in response to her horror. “They taste almost as good as you do.”</p><p>“Gross. And cut that out.”</p><p>As soon as the words had left her mouth, Darlington jerked his hand back to his side and the talons melted away. He looked angry for a moment then shrugged. “As you command.”</p><p>She had almost finished tying the final knots, and her hair lifted with static energy as the air itself charged with whatever kind of lightning filled the sky. It was almost upon them, and Alex gripped both of Darlington’s hands in her own.</p><p>“Are you ready?” she asked.</p><p>He nodded. “More than you can possibly imagine.”</p><p>“Then let’s go,” she said as she slammed her eyes shut, gritted her teeth, and concentrated on recapturing the feeling of the portal. At first nothing happened, and she felt cold terror began to creep through her limbs. There’s still enough in my system, she thought. She’d just taken the goddamn tablet. Then she remembered that time worked differently here. What if she’d already been affected by it and they couldn’t get back? She hadn’t brought a second one with her just in case she hadn’t survived and something in the hell dimension used it to break out. Just as she was about to panic, Darlington gripped her hands hard enough that her eyes shot open. She stared at him, unable to tell him that it wasn’t working and they were lost.</p><p>“Take my power,” Darlington ordered.</p><p>“What are you talking about?”</p><p>“We are bound. You control my power. Use it to help open the portal.”</p><p>Alex nodded, then closed her eyes again, thinking of both the feeling that had filled her when she’d opened the first portal and when she’d made the bargain with Darlington. At first, it still didn’t seem to be working. Then she began to feel the very edges of a sensation she couldn’t quite name. Her heartbeat began to vibrate throughout her body, the beat ringing in her ears and her breath sounding like the slow beating of wings. Something like static seemed to fill her chest, buzzing and shrieking but instead of fear, she felt only a calm surety slowing her motions and the very air around her.</p><p>“Yes,” Darlington said, warm approval limning his voice. “Now tell it where you want to go.”</p><p>“Dawes, Alex whispered, gathering the trance-like feeling close. She let the sensation build higher and higher until she could practically hear the air splitting around them.</p><p>“Now,” Darlington commanded sharply.</p><p>Alex gripped his hands tight. With only a thought, she tore a hole through the Veil, and in the blink of an eye they were vanished and gone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>And they're back! Thanks again for the lovely comments and kudos :) I really do appreciate you all reading this.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>One moment red sand and blowing ash surrounded them, and the next Alex felt herself crashing onto what felt like a cement floor. The darkness around her was complete, and for a moment she was sure she’d been devoured by the demons who had been almost upon them when she’d tried to portal home. She felt a surge of relief when Darlington’s voice came to her out of the void.</p>
<p>“Stern.”</p>
<p>She opened her eyes wide and looked around, but she couldn’t see either him or anything else, only darkness. Before she could panic even more than she already was, a small light flared up, jerking her attention towards it. It looked like a miniature flame, and it hovered over Darlington’s cupped palm. She could see his face in its light and the outline of a white circle on the floor surrounding them.</p>
<p>The salt circle. They were back in the basement of Rosenfeld Hall. They’d done it.</p>
<p>Darlington didn’t move, and he seemed to have shrunk into himself. “You used salt,” he said in a flat voice.</p>
<p>Alex cleared the last of the ash out of her throat before saying, “Good for banishing demons.”</p>
<p>“So you did pay attention.”</p>
<p>She thought she detected a hint of approval in his voice, but his eyes were locked on the circle instead of on her.</p>
<p>“Let me out,” he said softly, as he helped her to her feet.</p>
<p>Alex took a deep breath. “You swear that you’re bound to obey me?”</p>
<p>“I am,” he nodded.</p>
<p>“I’m guessing you’d say that no matter what.”</p>
<p>Darlington gave an exasperated huff of breath. “You will have to trust me, then.”</p>
<p>She hesitated, but he was right. She’d have to trust that he wouldn’t tear her apart once he was out of the circle before tearing apart the rest of the world like tissue paper.</p>
<p>Reaching a foot out slowly, she gave a flick of her ankle and smudged a line into the salt. Darlington closed his eyes and tilted his head back, taking a deep breath. When he opened his eyes once more and looked at her, it was with those shark’s eyes that looked so very alien and hungry. The flame in his hand shot into the air as he clenched the other beside him into a fist. His long shadow seemed to rise up of its own volition, stretching across the floor and blossoming to the four corners of the room and the ceiling. A wave of force vibrated out of his body, bouncing off the walls and making Alex’s ears ring and the glass in the tanks surrounding them shudder.</p>
<p>A spike of adrenaline filled her body once more. She wondered if she’d just made a terrible, colossal mistake that she would pay for and the rest of the world would pay for alongside her.</p>
<p>Then as suddenly as it had started, he diminished back into himself—back into the size and shape of Daniel Arlington.</p>
<p>Alex took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. When her lungs started working normally instead of their helpless and panicked heaving, she dared to take her eyes off of him to look around. Dawes wasn’t there. There was nobody there besides the two of them. For a moment, they stared at each other, the sound of Alex’s breathing loud in the air.</p>
<p>“You could not have done this alone,” Darlington said.</p>
<p>“Yeah, no shit. Dawes was here. Or she was supposed to be here. I don’t know what’s going on right now.”</p>
<p>“Time does work differently beyond the Veil,” he said slowly, “ and I do not have a sense of how long you would have been there.”</p>
<p>Alex’s blood froze. “Are you saying this might be a Rip van Winkle situation?” she demanded. “Am I going to have lost ten years of my life or something.”</p>
<p>“Technically, you would not have lost it exactly. Just…misplaced it.”</p>
<p>She gritted her teeth. “Not funny, Darlington. I don’t see any of my stuff, and Dawes isn’t here, so clearly something went wrong. Let’s get out of here and find out just how long I’ve been gone.”</p>
<p>He nodded and stepped forward past the circle and towards the closed door at the far side of the room. Alex followed close behind, watching him as carefully as she could when she wasn’t watching the floor. She still wore only her socks, and there was a significant amount of debris in the way. Dawes seemed to have taken Alex’s shoes, phone, and bag along with her when she’d left––however long ago that had been. When she inevitably stumbled, Darlington reached behind him without looking and grabbed her hand. Alex felt a jolt of something pass through her. It felt a long ways away from bad. As they walked, she tried to focus on something other than the feeling of Darlington’s long, cool fingers wrapped around her own. It was harder than it should have been considering the circumstances.</p>
<p>When they reached the basement door, Darlington tested the handle then pushed it with what was clearly only a fraction of his strength. The door banged open with a swift crash, and Alex tried not to think about just how much power he clearly had available to him. They ascended the three flights to the entryway in silence. She appreciated it since she had a lot of thoughts to work through.</p>
<p>He turned to her as they stood before the door to the outside world, looking down at her in her socks. “I assume you wish to go to the house on Orange.”</p>
<p>Alex nodded. </p>
<p>A smile flickered over his lips. “I could transport us there, but it might take a toll on you. I would suggest going on foot.”</p>
<p>She stared at him. “You can teleport? Here outside of...of hell?”</p>
<p>“You only limited me to a tenth of my power,” he reminded her with a shrug. “Perhaps you should have bargained a little lower.”</p>
<p>Alex jerked her gaze away from him, wondering what she had gotten herself into with him. “We can just walk, then. I guess I can trust you to make sure we get there in one piece.”</p>
<p>Darlington unlocked the front door and pushed the door outwards, ushering Alex through. It was dark outside, although she couldn’t be sure just how late it was. A pair of girls walked past them and Alex called out.</p>
<p>“Hey! Can I borrow your phone? Mine’s dead and I need to call for a ride.”</p>
<p>The girls turned, one reaching into her bag to pull out a phone while the other looked down pointedly at Alex’s feet.</p>
<p>“Sorority prank,” she said with what she hoped was a convincingly irritated look. It wasn’t hard to be convincing when it was so cold and she didn’t have shoes or a coat on.</p>
<p>When Alex took the phone, she sucked in a breath and tried to remember Dawes’ number from memory. Darlington murmured it from behind her, and she gratefully punched it in. It rang for a moment, then she heard a hesitant voice from the other end.</p>
<p>“This is Pamela. Who is this?”</p>
<p>“Dawes. It’s me.”</p>
<p>Silence greeted Alex’s pronouncement for a moment then she heard Dawes draw in a long breath. So much for being excited to hear from her, Alex thought.</p>
<p>“Alex? Where are you?”</p>
<p>Alex frowned. “I’m outside Rosenfeld Hall. Where else would I be?”</p>
<p>“Are you alone?”</p>
<p>“Uh…no.”</p>
<p>Silence roared down the line once more. Alex could imagine Dawes pacing around the parlor and not saying anything. She couldn’t help but be frustrated by the other girl’s reticence.</p>
<p>“Look, I’m borrowing a phone here,” Alex said. “Can you come pick us up? You have my shoes for Christ’s sake.”</p>
<p>“Ok,” Dawes said after another long pause. “I’ll be there in a minute. Don’t go anywhere.”</p>
<p>“We won’t. See you,” Alex said shortly.</p>
<p>The line went dead, and she handed the phone back to the girl she’d borrowed it from.</p>
<p>“Thanks,” she said, and the girls nodded and left. Alex couldn’t help but notice the long, flirtatious looks they gave Darlington as they walked past him. She turned her head to stare at him closely, noticing that his eyes looked normal for the first time since she’d found him in hell.</p>
<p>“How did you do that?” she demanded. “Your eyes, I mean.”</p>
<p>He shrugged. “It is easy for me to change my shape and appearance.” He lifted a hand, and she could see by the dim light of the streetlamps that his fingertips had slipped back into black claws once more.</p>
<p>“Stop that,” she hissed. “I’ll take your word for it.”</p>
<p>He lowered his hand, and it returned to normal. “Very well,” he said as his attention jerked away from her.</p>
<p>Alex followed his line of sight. Rachel Mulligan, the Gray who liked to roller skate around campus, was careening up to them. Sighing, Alex turned to either ward her off or to see what she wanted—she hadn’t decided which she would do yet. Before she could even open her mouth, Darlington’s hand shot out and caught Rachel by the arm as she rolled past him. </p>
<p>It was like watching a fly being trapped in amber. She stopped in space, frozen in place and began to glow at the edges of her body. Her mouth opened, and a long, razor-sharp scream echoed through the air. </p>
<p>Alex had a feeling she was the only living person who could hear that hideous wail. It was easily the worst thing she’d ever heard in her life. Between one moment and the next, Rachel’s outline flared to bright light, and then she vanished with only a few wisps of something like smoke drifting through the air where she’d once stood.</p>
<p>Darlington dropped his arm and gave a low, pleased hum to himself, closing his eyes as if he’d just eaten something rich and delicious.</p>
<p>“What did you do?” Alex demanded. “Where’s Rachel?”</p>
<p>“Hm?” he asked, obviously still distracted. “She’s gone. I was hungry.”</p>
<p>“You <i>ate</i> her?”</p>
<p>Darlington met her eyes at last. “Yes.” He cocked his head, looking as if he was trying to parse out her mood and expression. “Was she a friend of yours?”</p>
<p>Alex blinked. “Well, not really, no. But that’s not the point. The point is you can’t just eat the Grays!”</p>
<p>“I have to eat something if I am to maintain my strength here,” Darlington said with obvious irritation. “You drew on my power to bring us here. I must regain the energy I lost.”</p>
<p>“Well, do it some other way,” Alex exclaimed.</p>
<p>“As you wish,” he said, still looking miffed.</p>
<p>A familiar-looking car pulled up to the curb at the corner of Temple and Grove just across from them. </p>
<p>Darlington looked surprised and then confused. “Is that my car?”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” Alex said as she led him towards the BMW. “Dawes and I have been using it. Hope you don’t mind, but it wasn’t like you could drive it or anything. Michelle fixed it for you as a welcome back present.”</p>
<p>“Michelle is here, then.” Darlington registered only a flicker of emotion, but Alex could tell there was something like pleasure in his tone.</p>
<p>She turned to look at him as she reached the passenger-side door. “Uh, no. That’s something I wanted to talk to you about later. Get in, and we’ll fill you in on everything once we’re at the house.”</p>
<p>Darlington nodded and climbed into the backseat. Alex took shotgun, and she turned to Dawes as soon as she was inside the car. The girl’s eyes were wide, and her hands held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.</p>
<p>“Hey, Dawes,” Alex said.</p>
<p>“You’re here. You’re really here,” Dawes said in exchange before looking at the backseat in the rearview mirror. “And is that really––”</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she interrupted, curling her cold toes in her socks. She was more than ready to be back home. “It’s really him.” </p>
<p>Dawes seemed to be rendered speechless. Darlington’s lips twisted in a smile as he gave a small ironic wave in the rearview mirror. </p>
<p>Alex cleared her throat. “How… How long was I gone?”</p>
<p>“A little over two weeks,” Dawes replied, and Alex leaned back in the seat, aghast.</p>
<p>“Two weeks! You didn’t tell me that I could lose weeks of my life.”</p>
<p>“I didn’t know!” Dawes exclaimed. “I thought you had disappeared forever—that you’d been eaten or trapped. Centurion and I were about to tell Dean Cartwright everything. We have an appointment set up for tomorrow. Then I got your call just now.” She paused and blinked slowly. “To be honest, I think I’m in shock.”</p>
<p>“Well, pull yourself out of it. We have a lot to do.”</p>
<p>Dawes nodded and pulled the car away from the curb and headed back towards Il Bastone. They drove in silence for a moment, and then Dawes pointed out “You didn’t actually lose two weeks of your life, by the way. You just—”</p>
<p>“If you say I ‘misplaced’ it like Darlington did, I’m going to scream.”</p>
<p>“Oh. No. I mean, you didn’t age, but everyone will think you have, so it’s good it was only a few weeks’ difference. It could have been much worse.”</p>
<p>“Does this mean I missed my twenty-first birthday? God, this sucks.”</p>
<p>Dawes winced, as if that were the most pressing inconvenience of the night. “Yes. Centurion and I came up with a few scenarios in case you reappeared as we hoped. Your roommates and Cartwright think you had an emergency that took you home to Los Angeles.”</p>
<p>“And my mom?”</p>
<p>“She thinks you’ve had a very busy two weeks and a wild time out partying. We tried to make it seem like you’ve been dodging her calls. To be fair, she’s started to get suspicious, so you may want to call her—the sooner the better. I don’t think the texts I’ve been sending as you have been very convincing.”</p>
<p>Alex knocked her head against the back of the seat. “This just gets better and better.”</p>
<p>“Are we going to talk about how there’s a demon in the backseat? Is he really who he’s supposed to be? How did you get him? And how did you get back?” Dawes asked, rattling off the questions in a voice so low only Alex could hear. Alex looked in the rearview mirror to see Darlington gazing out the window with a mild expression on his face.</p>
<p>“Yeah. He’s something. I think it’s as much him as we could have hoped for. Or almost as much as we could have hoped for, anyway. He’s different, that’s for sure.” She sketched out the barest details as they pulled up to the house.</p>
<p>Dawes exited the car and scurried up to the front door, unlocking it and entering with a nervous glance back over her shoulder at Alex and Darlington as they walked behind her.</p>
<p>“She’s afraid of me,” Darlington said in a murmur. There was still little emotion in his voice, just observation.</p>
<p>“Can you blame her?” Alex asked in response.</p>
<p>He shrugged. “It’s not in my best interests to harm her.”</p>
<p>“That’s not the same thing as what you once had. You know you meant a lot to her.”</p>
<p>As Alex reached the door, she turned back to find Darlington waiting at the gate. A long howl cut through the air, and the jackals raced into view and straight towards him as if sensing a threat.</p>
<p>Darlington rattled off the series of words to call them off, and the pack halted in its tracks. They scented the air, and half of them growled while the other half barked and yipped in excitement.</p>
<p>“I think the house doesn’t know what to make of you,” Alex commented before turning to look up at the house’s exterior. “It’s alright. Let him in,” she commanded. For a moment, she wasn’t sure if the house would actually listen to her, but then the jackals pulled away and melted into the shadows as if they had never been there.</p>
<p>Darlington stepped around the gate and joined her on the porch. “You had better invite me in officially,” he said, looking up at the house with what might have been a touch of regret and happiness. It was hard for Alex to tell. It was like there was a veil over his emotions. Darlington had been notoriously hard to read unless he wanted you to, but there had been a genuineness to him that this Darlington didn’t quite share.</p>
<p>The house shook and creaked as Alex entered, the sconces on the walls rattling. “I know, I know,” she muttered. “But it’s him. Sort of. We’ll figure it all out, don’t worry.” Then she called out loud and clear, “Darlington. Come on in.”</p>
<p>He stepped over the threshold, and the house gave a long, creaking sigh as if equal parts resignation and relief. Alex found Dawes sitting on the couch in the parlor. She looked haunted, and she was shuffling her index cards in her hands as if trying to calm herself with the feel of her dissertation materials.</p>
<p>Darlington lounged against the doorway. He looked her over with a small smile. “I’m hurt, Pammie. No soup this time? Nothing to tempt me?”</p>
<p>Dawes blushed and opened her mouth and closed it without saying anything. It was no secret she’d had some kind of feelings for Darlington, and Alex didn’t like him toying with her even if it came across as gentle teasing.</p>
<p>“Be nice,” she muttered, and his mouth snapped shut on whatever else he’d been about to say.</p>
<p>Dawes took in the interaction. “So you did it,” she said, looking between them. “You bound his power to yourself.”</p>
<p>Alex nodded. “Just like you told me to.”</p>
<p>Darlington looked more amused than anything as he said, “It was quite a good job. She took full advantage of our imminent doom.” The laughter didn’t quite reach his eyes, though.</p>
<p>“You said you had my phone. I should call Turner and let him know he can call off your chat with Cartwright tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Dawes reached into her bag and pulled out Alex’s phone before handing it to her. “Any idea what you’re going to say?” she asked.</p>
<p>“Well, I could try telling him the truth, I guess. But I don’t want him getting the wrong idea about coming after Darlington with a crucifix and some holy water.”</p>
<p>“That would certainly be an interesting exchange,” Darlington said with what was almost a smirk. It gave Alex the feeling that perhaps neither of those things would prove very effective. She filed that away just in case, although what else they could try to use against him, she had no idea.</p>
<p>After pushing the call button next to Centurion’s number, the phone rang for a moment before Abel Turner’s voice came down the line.</p>
<p>“What is it, Dawes? I’m busy, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”</p>
<p>Alex grinned. “Don’t bother with that, Turner. It’s me.”</p>
<p>Turner was silent for a moment just as Dawes had been. “Stern. Where the hell have you been? Your partner said you’d vanished.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well I’m back. With Darlington.”</p>
<p>Another silence greeted this pronouncement. “Do I even want to know whatever it is you’re playing at?”</p>
<p>Alex frowned. “Probably not.”</p>
<p>“Then I won’t ask. But whatever you’re doing, it better not end up with people getting hurt.”</p>
<p>“The only one who will probably get hurt is me,” Alex returned. She wondered about the likelihood of that being true.</p>
<p>“Then watch yourself. I wasn’t looking forward to calling in a missing persons and contacting your mother. I’d appreciate it even less if I was calling in that you’d died.”</p>
<p>“Don’t get all weepy on me. I’ll be careful.”</p>
<p>“See that you do. And keep me out of your plans—unless the world is about to burn down. Then you know where to find me.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. And Turner? Thanks.”</p>
<p>Turner hung up without saying goodbye, and that more than anything else made Alex feel like she really was back where she was supposed to be. As she shoved the phone in her pocket, she looked to see Darlington and Dawes staring at each other like a cat and mouse across a kitchen floor. It was clear which one was the cat and which one was the mouse in that little arrangement.</p>
<p>“Did you ask him about Michelle?” Dawes blurted out to break the sudden silence.</p>
<p>Darlington’s head tilted. “What’s happened to Michelle?”</p>
<p>“She’s in a magical coma at the moment,” Alex said before sketching out the details of the situation. “North is convinced there’s something bigger going on that caused the attack.”</p>
<p>Darlington looked confused for a moment. “Bertram Boyce North? The Bridegroom? You <i>have</i> been busy.”</p>
<p>“You have no idea,” Alex said dryly. “I’ll catch you up on the rest, but first I need some sleep. I’m heading up.” She nodded her thanks to Dawes who had pulled her coat on and looked like she would gladly be making an exit as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Alex turned to go until she heard Darlington from behind her, “And will I be joining you?” he asked almost casually but with a seductive edge that made her stomach flip-flop in a way that was distressingly pleasant.</p>
<p>She whirled around so fast that she tripped, and the sight of Dawes’ raised eyebrows made a blush rush to Alex’s cheeks despite herself. “Uh. You can sleep in the Virgil room.”</p>
<p>“I do not need sleep, but if that’s where you would prefer I stay, then I'll retire there.”</p>
<p>“You do that,” Alex said, and as he moved to walk past her towards the stairs, she could practically feel him against her when he brushed past. It made her skin tingle with anticipation, and she tried to force down the excitement building in her body that desperately wanted to pick back up where they’d left off from the last time she’d had him in her bed––even if only in dreams. </p>
<p>She quickly looked away when he almost made eye contact with her as he meandered up the steps. There was something about having him here in reality and knowing he was a demon whose motivations were unclear that made her hold back on her urges. Trusting him blindly seemed like a terrible idea, and that included inviting him to her bed as well.</p>
<p>Alex could hear the sound of the front door closing behind Dawes, and she turned back around and began to climb the stairs herself. She stopped once she’d hit her bedroom doorway but almost jumped when she glanced down the hallway to see Darlington standing in front of his own door.</p>
<p>He glanced sidelong at her. “You know where to find me should you change your mind,” he said with his lips upturned slightly and a mischievous look in his dark eyes.</p>
<p>“I’ll keep that in mind,” Alex returned, trying hard to contain another blush as she backed into her room. Once alone, she readied herself for bed before calling her mom. It was an awkward conversation filled with a tearful Mira warning her about not working too hard and not falling back into old habits, and Alex truly was exhausted by the time it was over. She fell into her bed, and this time she walked her dreams alone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For the first time in a long time, Alex slept in and let herself wake up from just the sunlight playing over her face rather than an alarm blaring. Sitting up, she stretched luxuriously before getting up to pull on a henley and jeans. Something smelled delicious as she made her way downstairs and stood briefly in the hallway to get her bearings. There were voices coming from the direction of the kitchen, and she stuck her head around the corner a moment later to see Darlington making what smelled like eggs and bacon. Dawes sat at the counter where she watched him warily with a cup of coffee next to her elbow. The sight of the steaming mug and the smell of breakfast had Alex’s stomach growling in moments. </p>
<p>“Yours is almost done,” Darlington said, and Alex realized he was speaking to her. Dawes jumped a little and swung her gaze towards the doorway.</p>
<p>“Well, you two look like you’re getting along better,” Alex commented as she took a seat next to Dawes. Darlington slid a plate and a cup of coffee in front of her, and she groaned in pleasure as she took her first gulp from the steaming mug.</p>
<p>“I feel like I slept for a week,” she commented.</p>
<p>“Restful dreams, I take it?” Darlington asked idly, and she shot a look his way.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah. Very restful.” She took a bite of bacon then asked, “So what’s the plan? How do we get started stopping whatever’s out there and then waking Michelle up? I assume Dawes filled you in.”</p>
<p>“She did.”</p>
<p>“Well,” Dawes said as she pushed the sleeve of her sweater up her arm, “first you’ll need to go to the Farmer’s Market. I never was able to go get the second <i>garde</i> made. Ruby Jones said she’d be there when I called her this morning. She’s willing to make a second one for you to pick up. Each of us will have one just in case that way, and I can stop spending most of my time hiding in this house.”</p>
<p>“Sounds like a plan. I need to get back to JE to check in on my classes at some point today, too. I can always go get this thing made first.”</p>
<p>“I took care of your classes,” Dawes said. “At least, I emailed your professors that you had a family emergency a few days after you disappeared. They gave you an extension on work until next week.”</p>
<p>“Oh. Thanks,” Alex said, pulling out her phone to check her email and texts. A few check-in emails from her professors were piling up, and there was a text from a number she didn’t recognize from a week earlier.</p>
<p>
  <i>Hey, it’s Simms. I got your number from Dawes after we met. Hope that was ok. Let me know if you want to hang out</i>
</p>
<p>A second text from the same number said, <i>Haven’t seen you around in a while. Hope everything’s alright. Ellie says hi</i></p>
<p>Alex’s heart sank slightly. “Oh crap. Simms probably thinks I ghosted him.”</p>
<p>“The Lethe supplier? That Simms?” Darlington asked. “Don’t tell me you started dating him while I was away.”</p>
<p>Alex felt unaccountably uncomfortable. “Not exactly. We were just planning to hang out. Then I went to hell. To get you.”</p>
<p>“Ah. So imminent dating, then.”</p>
<p>Alex glared at him. “Not a big deal, Darlington. And none of your business.”</p>
<p>“None at all?” he asked with a questioning lilt to his voice as he leaned over the island and stole a piece of her bacon. Alex didn’t know how he managed to look so flirtatious doing it, but he did, and she felt flustered again.</p>
<p>Dawes watched the back and forth between them as if she was trapped at a ping pong match that she desperately wanted to leave.</p>
<p>“So when do we go?” Darlington asked.</p>
<p>Alex blinked. “You’re coming with me?”</p>
<p>“Unless you want me to stay here to keep Pammie company.”</p>
<p>Dawes’ eyes widened slightly and she gave a minute shake of her head. Alex sighed. “Yeah, I suppose you’d better come with me, then.”</p>
<p>“I’ll see you at the car in a few minutes, then,” Darlington said as he carried the frying pan to the sink to wash it.</p>
<p>Alex stared at him. A demon doing the dishes. This day was off to a bizarre beginning. Dawes followed her into the hall.</p>
<p>“Alex. Do you know what you’re doing with him?” she hissed. “Have you figured out what his motivations are, if anything?”</p>
<p>Alex shook her head. “No idea. I guess I’ll just have to spend time with him to find out.”</p>
<p>“And what was he talking about last night? Did the two of you—?”</p>
<p>“No,” Alex exclaimed far louder than she’d meant to before repeating, “No, it’s not like that. At least, I don’t think it’s like that. Sort of.”</p>
<p>“Be smart, Alex. That’s a demon who looks a lot like Darlington, not necessarily the other way around. We don’t know how much of him is still…well...him.”</p>
<p>“I get it, believe me. You didn’t see him in hell like I did. He is definitely on the inhuman side of things.”</p>
<p>Dawes bit her lip. “Then I hope you’re going to be careful.”</p>
<p>Alex nodded. “I will be.”</p>
<p>“Alright.” Dawes sighed before remarking, “I set out the new materials for the second <i>garde</i> upstairs in the Armory, and I’ll see you whenever you get back.” She looked like she wanted to give Alex another fortifying hug, but she settled on an awkward wave as she headed for the parlor.</p>
<p>Alex took a deep breath and headed up the stairs, ready to look for whatever Dawes had left for her. What she didn’t expect to find was Darlington going through the armory’s many drawers. He straightened as she walked in, and if she didn’t know any better she would have said there was a hint of frustration in his eyes.</p>
<p>“What are you doing?” she asked. “And more importantly, how did you get up here before me?”</p>
<p>He shrugged. “I created a portal. It was a short distance.” </p>
<p>The silence stretched between them.</p>
<p>That seemed weird even for Demon Darlington, she thought. And she didn’t miss that he wasn’t volunteering what he was doing rifling through the artifacts.</p>
<p>As if sensing her suspicion, Darlington said, “I had a thought that I might be able to find something that would help Michelle if we are going to see her later today.</p>
<p>“Sure,” Alex said, although she still didn’t quite believe him. “Dawes has gone through all that, though.”</p>
<p>He inclined his head. “Of course. Shall we, then?” he asked before heading to the stairs. They walked down to the front door and out to the car in stilted silence.</p>
<p>She gestured that he should take the passenger side as she climbed into the driver’s seat.</p>
<p>“Hope you don’t mind,” she said.</p>
<p>He shook his head, saying mildly, “I’ve already told you. All that I am and all that I have is yours.”</p>
<p>Unnerved at those words, Alex started the car and followed her phone’s GPS to Edgewood Park. Darlington stayed silent for the twenty minutes it took to get there. Alex couldn’t think of a single thing to say to him to draw him out. What did one ask to try to figure out how much humanity was left in someone who’d become a demon? As they left the campus area, she felt herself getting nervous again. She didn’t know when the campus had become her safe zone, but it had.</p>
<p>Her phone chimed with a text as she pulled into a newly-vacated parking spot. When she checked it, she felt her brows drawing together in frustration.</p>
<p>“What is it?” Darlington asked, seeing her expression.</p>
<p>“It’s a Sunday. Skull and Bones wants to meet tonight, and they’re basically saying if I’m not there they’re going to start meeting with or without the benefit of Lethe’s presence.”</p>
<p>Darlington frowned. “I cannot say I’m surprised the Societies would try to move forward on their own if given the chance.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. And they were definitely acting squirrely before I left to get you, too. I think they know something about what’s going on, but they aren’t saying anything.” Alex paused in thought. “I’m going to have to rely on your Dutch tonight to actually figure out what they’re up to.”</p>
<p>“You wish for me to go with you, then,” Darlington said.</p>
<p>“Well, yeah. I decided it’s better for me to keep an eye on you than to make poor Dawes do it. Although breakfast was a nice attempt to win her over.”</p>
<p>Darlington raised an eyebrow. “I don’t believe it worked.”</p>
<p>“Nope. But feel free to keep trying it.”</p>
<p>He sighed. “Is it so hard to believe I simply wanted to return here?”</p>
<p>“After seeing what you were living like?” Alex shook her head. “No, I can definitely see why you’d want to get out of there. I don’t think that’s quite the whole story, though.”</p>
<p>Darlington smiled slightly. “Believe what you like, then,” he said before exiting the car and leaving Alex to scramble after him. She caught up to him on the way to the market’s array of tents and stalls.</p>
<p>“Not that I’m not looking forward to seeing a ton of radishes and shit, but do you have any idea of what this person looks like or where their stand would be?”</p>
<p>Darlington closed his eyes for a moment and pointed towards their left. “It’s that way.”</p>
<p>Alex stared at him. “Are you joking?”</p>
<p>“No. Someone here reeks of magic. I’m assuming that is the person you’re looking for.”</p>
<p>“Well, okay then,” Alex said as she swung into a walk in the direction he’d pointed. “Maybe let me do all the talking. I don’t want you freaking her out if she figures out what you are.” She paused. “In fact, go do something else and we can meet back here in fifteen minutes.”</p>
<p>“What exactly should I do?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.</p>
<p>“God, I don’t know. I never go to these things. Maybe they have a petting zoo. Just don’t eat anything or anyone. Got it?”</p>
<p>“Understood. I will see you back here,” Darlington said, then he simply melted into the crowd of people surrounding them and was gone.</p>
<p>Alex shook her head, a feeling of surreality drawing over her. She was at a farmer’s market with the demon she’d almost fucked and who had made her breakfast, and now she was going to go talk to some kind of voodoo priestess. Not voodoo, she could practically hear Dawes correcting her. Hoodoo. Right. She sighed and turned down an aisle of tents that seemed like it might be the right direction.</p>
<p>Between a goat’s milk soap and lotion stand and one selling organic pretzels and bread, Alex found a table with a cloth covering it depicting a stylized hand with what looked like astrology markings all over it. It seemed like as good an option as anything, and Alex approached while looking over the tincture bottles covering its surface.</p>
<p>She read a few of the labels. They said things like “Good luck oil”, “Charisma,” and “Mantle of Venus” while a jewelry stand full of distinctive necklaces took up the other side of the table. The woman who sat on the other side of that table had dark brown skin, a black coat, and she had arranged her hair in a patterned blue wrap.</p>
<p>“Interested in a tarot reading or a good luck token?” she asked Alex in a smooth and resonant voice while giving her a shrewd look. “You seem like you’re in need of something to give you an edge.”</p>
<p>Alex looked around. “I might take you up on that. If you’re Ruby Jones, then I’m here on behalf of Pamela Dawes. My name’s Alex Stern.”</p>
<p>“Oh, I know who you are. Pamela texted me that a girl with snake tattoos would be stopping by to pick up a Conjure bag. Mind telling me why you need another <i>garde</i> on top of the one I already gave her last month?”</p>
<p>Alex shrugged noncommittally. “Just need a little extra protection right now.”</p>
<p>“Don’t we all,” Jones said before leaning back and looking Alex up and down. “You could use some cleansing, to be honest with you.”</p>
<p>Alex wondered for a moment if she should have taken a shower back at Il Bastone. Jones must have picked up on her discomfort because she laughed.</p>
<p>“No, I mean you’re aura is murky. It’s like you’ve been swimming in something absolutely disgusting. You’re coated in it, whatever it is. It’s why I suggested the luck token.”</p>
<p>Alex shook her head. “I’m good, thanks. I just came for the <i>garde</i>.”</p>
<p>“Alright, well don’t say I didn’t offer you some help, then.” Jones pulled out a bag Alex recognized as a twin to the one she wore around her own neck. The woman put a business card on top of it before handing the bag to her.</p>
<p>“Feel free to give me a call if you need some help with whatever it is you’re clearly in over your head with. I like Pamela, and I wouldn’t want to see her getting mixed up in something she couldn’t handle.”</p>
<p>Alex nodded, taking the items from Jones. “I might take you up on that.”</p>
<p>“Good. Now off with you. There’s someone who thinks I’m going to sell them a lust charm standing behind you.”</p>
<p>Alex stepped away from the table and pivoted to see a young woman eyeing the wares on the table. She made eye-contact with Alex, and Alex gave her what she hoped was a charming smile. “She’s the real thing. You should go with one of the oils.” Feeling like she’d done her duty in terms of good advertising, she retraced her steps to where she was supposed to meet Darlington. She looked back the way she’d come when she didn’t spot him, but when she turned back to face forward she almost yelped to find him standing directly in front of her.</p>
<p>“Don’t sneak up on me, Darlington,” she exclaimed. He smiled slightly in response, but nodded.</p>
<p>“Did you get what you came for?” he asked. </p>
<p>Alex nodded. “Yeah. We can go now.”</p>
<p>“Or we could walk around and enjoy all of this,” Darlington pointed out.</p>
<p>She didn’t know how she felt about that. It almost seemed as if it would be too much like a date. “Let’s just get back to the house to get this to Dawes. Do you want to swing by the Hutch first to get some of your clothes? Your coat and a pair of your boots are there, too.”</p>
<p>Darlington considered the offer for a moment. “Yes, that would be convenient. It would help to conserve my energy if I wore clothing instead of having to change my appearance.”</p>
<p>Alex made her way to the car, and she could make out a few Grays on the edges of the market. Each of them eyed Darlington and then quickly hurried away as if wanting to make sure they didn’t gain his attention.</p>
<p>“I think word’s gotten around about you among the Grays.”</p>
<p>“Pity. I could have used a snack right about now.”</p>
<p>“Would you settle for a pretzel instead?”</p>
<p>“Tempting, but I’ll go without for now.”</p>
<p>They drove to the Hutch, and it was easier for some reason to talk to him this time around. She still felt his presence as a low-lying hum of energy next to her like a downed power line. But it was something she felt like she could embrace instead of shy away from. Alex filled him in on Jones’ assessment of her that had been eerily accurate.</p>
<p>“You should have taken her up on the luck charm. Who knows what kind of luck you’re going to need in the coming days.”</p>
<p>“You don’t say. Have you been able to pick anything up about what’s going on?”</p>
<p>“Only that there is a cloud of some kind of energy surrounding New Haven. It’s like looking at a thunderstorm gathering. I’m afraid it’s impossible to say where the center is, but there is definitely something growing and shifting here. And it is powerful, that much is clear.”</p>
<p>“Good to know.” She thought for a moment. “What was she talking about with my aura, anyway?”</p>
<p>Darlington suddenly seemed to find something very interesting out the window.</p>
<p>“Darlington. Did the deal I made with you mess with my soul somehow?” Alex demanded.</p>
<p>He finally looked at her sidelong. “It may have tarnished your soul a bit to traffic with a demon, yes.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” she exploded. “Why didn’t you tell me that would happen?”</p>
<p>“We were in mortal danger. It seemed as if it was something that could wait until later.”</p>
<p>“Well, it couldn’t!”</p>
<p>“Would you have left me there had you known, then?”</p>
<p>Alex paused. “I would have maybe thought about it, yeah.”</p>
<p>“Then I am not sorry at all.”</p>
<p>“Goddamnit, Darlington. What do I do now? I want it back to being untarnished.”</p>
<p>Darlington arched a brow. “Your soul was not particularly pristine to begin with, if you must know.”</p>
<p>“Whatever. What does this tarnishing mean anyway? I’m guessing it means I’m not cut out for heaven or something?”</p>
<p>“To be honest,” Darlington said, looking thoughtful, “there doesn’t seem to be the duality of heaven and hell as you would often think of it. Were you to die now, the likelihood of your spirit being pulled into the hell dimension where I was would be much higher than the likelihood of you being able to stay here on earth like a Gray or to pass on to whatever else is beyond those planes.”</p>
<p>“So I’d be one of those whispering voices I heard on the wind. That is not reassuring.” She paused as if in thought, although what she really wanted to do was to test the waters. “To be honest, I keep feeling something strange since we made our deal. I can’t really explain it. It’s like a hum or something whenever I’m around you.”</p>
<p>Darlington looked almost embarrassed. “I had wondered if you’d noticed. Our connection is a particularly close one. The way we sealed the bargain will make it…how to put it…easier for us to feel any wants and needs for each other.</p>
<p>Her heart sank as it confirmed for her that the intensity of the desire she felt for him wasn’t going to just go away and wasn’t just in her head.“So you’re saying I’m going to want to go at it like a horny teenager every time I’m near you?”</p>
<p>“That is the long and short of it, yes.”</p>
<p>“Great,” she muttered. “I think I can manage to control myself if you can, though. I mean, it’s not like we <i>have</i> to do anything about it.”</p>
<p>At the same time, she wanted to do something about it. She wanted it very, very much. But she pushed that feeling back down and concentrated on driving, trying to make the low-lying sensation vanish. Saying the alphabet backwards while upping her road rage seemed to be doing the trick, because it finally faded into the background.</p>
<p>Once they had pulled up outside the Hutch, however, she found herself thinking about what it would be like to give in to what she wanted. She couldn’t seem to dispel the mental image of dragging him upstairs and onto the couch where she could drape herself on top of him and kiss him until they lost all sense of reason. It was something she desperately felt the need to do. </p>
<p>Instead, she forced herself to open the car door and get out. That was when she saw what waited for her outside the Hutch’s door. It was North, pacing back and forth on the sidewalk as if consumed with worry and nervous energy. At the sound of the car door, he turned and opened his mouth as if to hail her until Darlington climbed out of the passenger seat and took his place at her side. </p>
<p>North’s mouth snapped shut, and he looked equal parts terrified and determined. Alex could have sworn the Gray paled in Darlington’s presence, but he stood his ground.</p>
<p>“So you did it, then,” he said, his voice low. “I’d heard he was back, but I had to see it for myself. Do you know what you’ve done, Ms. Stern? You’ve unleashed something terrible onto this world.”</p>
<p>“It’s fine, North,” Alex said, trying not to roll her eyes at his words. “It’s Darlington. Really. And we have an arrangement. So relax.”</p>
<p>“You made a bargain with it? That’s not any guarantee that it won’t turn on you and try to destroy everything in its path. You don’t know what it wants, and it could very well be the end of us all.”</p>
<p>“Don’t tempt me, little ghost.” Darlington said, and his eyes were the flat, shark’s black they had been in hell. “If there is to be any destruction, I would happily start and end with you.”</p>
<p>North seemed to pale a little more in Alex’s vision, but he continued to stand his ground. His face twisted into the angry cast it took on that made him look like something not quite human.</p>
<p>“For fuck’s sake. Stop it. Both of you,” Alex snapped. The two men glared at each other and then looked at her. She realized she really did think of them as men although they were both inhuman in their own way.</p>
<p>“I will be watching and waiting should you need me, Ms. Stern. Our connection is a strong one, and when you realize you need to put that thing back where you found it, then just call for me and I’ll be there. Please,” he added. “Before it’s too late.”</p>
<p>“Like I said: it’s fine, North. But thanks.” </p>
<p>North gave a short bow and left down the sidewalk with a purposeful stride. Darlington flexed his fingers as if contemplating chasing after him and eating him. </p>
<p>“Let it go,” Alex warned him. “North’s just paranoid. He’ll come around once you stop eating Grays and start helping me find whatever it is out there we should really be worrying about.”</p>
<p>Darlington nodded and Alex unlocked the door to the Hutch and climbed the familiar staircase to the second floor. It felt like too long since she’d been there. Everything was in the same spot and nothing was out of place, but Alex felt restless in the space. She could sense Darlington’s presence so close and yet too far away. It was hard not to reach for him and shove him against a wall to put an end to that waiting and watchful stillness between them.</p>
<p>“Your stuff’s just there where you left it,” she said, gesturing to the coat hanging up in the corner with the big boots sitting below it. We can go to Black Elm tomorrow to get the rest of your things if you want.”</p>
<p>“I would like that,” he said as he sat down on the couch and picked up a book from a stack next to it. Alex had almost forgotten they were there, she'd grown so used to looking at them. She saw he’d chosen <i>Stranger in a Strange Land</i>, and although she didn’t know what it was about, the irony in the title was not lost on her. </p>
<p>“I am happy to wait here for the Skull and Bones ritual if you wish to go to your dorm room,” he said.</p>
<p>“That’s okay,” Alex said as she settled herself gingerly on the couch next to him. “I don’t really feel like answering the thousand questions my roommates will have for me just yet.” She clicked on the television, but nothing caught her attention more than the insistent sensation between her and Darlington. She couldn’t help paying attention to it now that there was nothing to really distract her. </p>
<p>If Darlington felt it, he was doing a good job of not showing it. Finally, she scrunched the rest of her body onto the couch and lay on her side, pillowing her head on her arms. It was cozy and more comfortable than she would have guessed. Her feet pressed against Darlington’s thigh, and he rested a hand on top of them. She felt unaccountably safe with him even though she knew she couldn’t trust the feeling. It was there, nevertheless. The weight of his fingers was a reassuring presence, and she drifted off into a doze feeling as if there may have been a large number of things wrong with the world, but that things in this little room were better than she could have hoped.</p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This fic is just so fun to write. As always, thank you for reading!</p><p>(And many thanks to the amazing ink_drunk for the exceptional beta-reading!)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Ash and red dust and a screaming wind she now knew to be souls swirled around Alex, making her cover her face and her ears. She huddled over in the midst of the chaos and tried in vain to figure out where she was and what was going on. The whispers unnerved her more than the first time she’d heard them, and they seemed to be trying to tell her something. It sounded so much like they spoke her name, but she couldn’t make out anything else. Suddenly, a sound like huge wings buffeted her ears, and a hand clamped onto her shoulder, swinging her around to face something with flat black eyes that spoke in a low hiss—</p><p>“Alex! You’re having a nightmare.”</p><p>Darlington’s voice dragged her up from the ash and the grit to a dim place somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. She cracked her eyes open after a moment and found herself curled up on the couch in the Hutch. He’d covered her with a blanket at some point, and she was warm and cozy if not for her racing heart telling her something was coming for her. Darlington’s hand rested on her calf instead of on her feet as if he’d just reached out to her to shake her out of her dream.</p><p>“God. What was that?” she asked groggily as she stretched and pushed herself to a sitting position. It put her shoulder to shoulder with Darlington, and the hum buzzed happily between them. She inched away despite her instincts, and the crackling energy dissipated a little. “I was back in hell there for a minute. It felt so real. I could have sworn I was really there.”</p><p>“Only in your imagination,” Darlington said with a small smile, but his eyes were shuttered and gave nothing away.</p><p>“What time is it, anyway?” she asked him, seeing that it was growing dark outside the windows.</p><p>“It’s a little after six o’clock.”</p><p>“Perfect. I can still swing by my dorm room, and we need to have you look in on Michelle. Maybe there’s something you can do for her that Dawes and I haven’t thought of.”</p><p>Darlington nodded. “I’ll try.”</p><p>They gathered their things, and Darlington stepped into the bathroom to change into the fresh jeans and a shirt that waited for him. When he had decked himself out in the old Davenport scarf, Barbour jacket, and heavy boots, it seemed to Alex almost as if they’d both been transported in time and he had never been lost to them.</p><p>“How do I look?” he asked her when he caught her staring.</p><p>She shrugged. “Like old Darlington. Like you.”</p><p>He gestured towards the door, and they walked down the narrow staircase and climbed into the BMW to drive towards Jonathan Edwards. Darlington drove this time, and he pulled into a fire lane and left the car running.</p><p>“I would prefer not to go up with you, if you don’t mind,” he said. “Not that I don’t find your roommates charming, but it seems best to keep things brief.”</p><p>“Yeah,” Alex said. “They love you, so it’s probably a good idea for you to stay here if I’m going to make a quick exit.” She opened the door and hopped out into the cool evening air. It smelled like leaves and a hint of wood smoke from god knew where. She jogged up the stairs to her room and gripped her bag tightly. Hopefully, there wouldn’t be too much questioning of where she’d been and what she’d been doing. She always felt bad lying to her roommates, but there was even less of a chance of her telling them any details than usual this time around.</p><p>She was relieved to find the lights off in the main common area except for a dim light coming from beneath Mercy’s door. Ducking into her room, she pulled a few shirts and some essentials from the cupboards. Everything else she needed was already at the house on Orange or at the Hutch, so the clothes fit easily into her bag. She was just reaching for the door knob to go when she heard a muffled sound that sounded an awful lot like a sob coming from Mercy’s room.</p><p>Alex’s brows drew together, and she stood there for a moment considering before going to Mercy’s door and knocking a few times on it.</p><p>“You in there, Merce? It’s Alex.”</p><p>The sounds stopped abruptly. She heard her name drift through the door before it pulled open, and a tear-streaked Mercy looked out at her.</p><p>“Alex? You’re back.” She frowned. “When did you get back? Are you okay?”</p><p>Alex smiled at her in what she thought would be a genuine way for someone who supposedly hadn’t seen someone in a few weeks. “I just got here and I have to head out again in a few, but I’m fine.” She paused. “How are you doing?”</p><p>Mercy looked at the ground. “I’m fine,” she said quietly to her feet.</p><p>“No offense, but it doesn’t sound like you’re fine. What’s going on?”</p><p>“It’s nothing. I said I’d go out on a date with Colin. They asked me again last week, and it’s coming up tomorrow. I just don’t know if I can do it.”</p><p>“Well, you could call it off, couldn’t you? If they’re a jerk about it, I will officially punch them for you.”</p><p>Mercy smiled a bit at that. “No. They’re really nice. I just feel like after everything…last year, I mean…that I don’t know if I can open myself up to anything like that.”</p><p>Alex nodded. “I get that. You went through some really awful shit last year. Really, really, bad. If you don’t think you’re ready, then you don’t have to be.”</p><p>“But it’s been a <i>year</i>,” Mercy said, looking angry for a moment before a few more tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. “When am I ever going to feel okay again?”</p><p>“Honestly? It’s going to take a long time. You may never feel totally okay again. It will pop up in your head no matter how hard you try not to think about it. And then it will be fine again before it comes at you out of nowhere again. That’s when it feels like it happened all over again.”</p><p>Mercy was quiet for a minute, then she looked at Alex head-on. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience.”</p><p>Alex held her breath. She didn’t talk to people about her experience in junior high. There was nobody to tell except for maybe Darlington or Michelle or Dawes or one of the few people who knew Grays were real. She’d made a habit of shoving the memories down, and she hated dusting them off and thinking about them again. But if it helped Mercy, she would do it.</p><p>“Yeah,” she said. “I was raped when I was a kid.”</p><p>“Jesus, Alex,” Mercy said, staring at her.</p><p>Alex gave a small ugly laugh. “I know. And it kind of fucked me up for the rest of my life. But I don’t want that to happen to you. Did you ever go see a counselor?”</p><p>Mercy shook her head.</p><p>“Well, start with that,” Alex ordered gently. “It can’t hurt. I don’t think so anyway.”</p><p>Mercy twisted her hands together. “Will you come with me if I go?”</p><p>Alex felt a lump of ice in her chest at the thought of having to pull those memories back up to the surface, but she nodded. “Sure. I’ll go with you. You deserve to get past this, Merce. Don’t let the assholes that hurt you ruin your life like mine was almost ruined.”</p><p>Mercy nodded. “Okay.” She looked away again for another second. “Just knowing he’s dead isn’t enough, you know? I thought it would be, but it’s not.”</p><p>“Yeah, Alex said, “I get that. Sometimes the ghosts keep chasing you. But you find the right thing to make them stay away, and it makes them stop coming for you. Promise me you’ll try to find that thing.”</p><p>“I will,” Mercy said, and her smile this time was teary but genuine. “Thanks, Alex. I’ll call the Counseling Center tomorrow.”</p><p>“How about tonight. And I’ll be sure to be there whenever you go.”</p><p>Mercy stepped forward and hugged her. “Thanks. I mean it. Thank you.”</p><p>“No problem,” Alex said as she returned the hug. “I’ve gotta go. You going to be alright?”</p><p>“Yeah. I will be, I think. I’ll see you later. And welcome back.” Mercy walked her to the front door. “Come back so we can all hear about your trip. We missed you.”</p><p>“Aw, thanks. See you.” When Alex stepped outside and shut the door, she felt a little lighter than when she’d walked inside. If she could use what she’d learned from her own uniquely horrible and scarring experience to help Mercy feel less alone, then it was something she could hold onto when her own memories came for her in the darkness.</p><p>She saw Darlington circling the block and walked to intercept him. He pulled up to the curb, and she blew out a breath before climbing into the car.</p><p>“And how were your roommates?” Darlington asked.</p><p>“Mercy’s having a rough time, but she’ll be okay.” She decided to change the subject in case he had any more questions. “We should get going to the hospital. I’m hoping you’ll know how to fix Michelle or at least be able to tell us what happened to her so I can track down the one who did it.”</p><p>They drove to the hospital in companionable silence while Alex spent her time looking out the window and trying to formulate what to say to him. When they reached the building, Alex asked him, “Are you sure you don’t want me to go in with you?”</p><p>Darlington shook his head. “It will be easier if I transport myself to her side and try to ascertain what happened to her. It could potentially be hard on your body and mind if I were to try to take you with me. Besides, visiting hours are likely over at this point.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah,” Alex said. “I guess I can go hang out in the lobby and wait for you to meet up with me. Just don’t get caught.”</p><p>“That won’t be a problem,” Darlington said. A moment later, he seemed to fade out of existence into the darkness of the night around her. Alex blinked, still unnerved by his inhumanity, then walked up to the lobby’s entrance. It was hard not to pace around when she was finally inside it, and she was glad he didn’t make her wait long. </p><p>Darlington appeared on the outside of the glass doors out in the darkness, and she caught a glimpse of him when she glanced that way. Tilting his head, he invited her to join him outside.</p><p>“Well,” she asked when she caught up to him. “What did you find? Or were you able to wake her up?”</p><p>Darlington shook his head, and there was a firm set to his mouth. “I recognized the elixir you and Pammie used on Michelle. Despite that, when I tested the magic in the aura surrounding her, it was not what I’d expected.”</p><p>“What do you mean?” Alex demanded. “You’re a demon. Shouldn’t you be able to take care of anything magical?”</p><p>“Not exactly. I can’t explain it, but it wouldn’t allow me to get ahold of it. However, I have a sense of the outline of the power now. It will make it much easier to identify the source when I come across it. I’m now quite familiar with its resonance.”</p><p>As they walked back to the car, Alex’s phone began to make a continuous buzz in her pocket. She took it out, looked at it, and swore long and low. </p><p>“Something wrong?” Darlington asked.</p><p>Yes, goddamnit it. It’s Dean Cartwright. I thought I could avoid her a little longer.” She looked at the text on the screen.</p><p>
  <i>If you think I didn’t realize you were gone, you can think again. We will talk later, but for now your advisor is waiting. Be sure to make an appointment with him.</i>
</p><p>Alex groaned. “Well, at least she doesn’t seem to know you’re back yet, she muttered. That’s something at least. I do have to meet with my advisor, though. Again. But I’m not doing it today,” she said firmly. Her phone buzzed and she looked down at it before cursing again. “Fucking Skull and Bones is trying to light a fire under my ass. They said they’re starting in a half hour. I wish we had time to go look for whatever it is that took out Michelle, but we’d better get over to SSS.”</p><p>“Perhaps they’ll give some kind of indication of what’s happening on the Society front. Surely they’re connected to whatever it is taking place on a larger scale,” Darlington pointed out.</p><p>“Good point. Let’s go.”</p><p>Yale-New Haven Hospital’s Neurology department where Michelle was being kept was only a mile or so from SSS. They parked the car back at the Hutch before walking the short distance to the Hall. Tripp Helmuth sat outside the old hospital theater, and Alex wondered what he’d done or not done to pull that duty again.</p><p>Tripp visibly perked up like the golden retriever that he was when he saw Darlington. “Dude, you’re back! How was Spain?”</p><p>Darlington took the question in stride. It seemed that he lied almost as well as she did, particularly now that he was of a more demonic persuasion. </p><p>“It was good. Warm. Beautiful.”</p><p>“Were the Spanish girls super hot?” Tripp asked with raised brows and an expectant leer.</p><p>“A gentleman never tells,” Darlington said with a small smile.</p><p>Tripp nodded his head knowingly. “Say no more, bro. Say no more.”</p><p>Alex nudged Darlington. “We should be getting inside. They probably have their panties in a twist by now.”</p><p>“Let’s go get a beer sometime now that you’re back,” Tripp said hopefully, and Darlington gave him another enigmatic smile.</p><p>“Sure. See you, Tripp.”</p><p>“You’re not seriously going to do that, are you?” Alex demanded as she operated the subtle switch that opened the door to the surgery theater.</p><p>“Why not?” Darlington asked idly. “There might be more bargains to be had that I hadn’t considered yet.”</p><p>“You can’t have Tripp Helmuth’s soul,” she hissed. “Leave him alone.”</p><p>“Hmm” he replied. “It’s probably for the best. I don’t know what frat boy would taste like. Probably bong juice and cheap beer.”</p><p>“Oh my god, are you <i>always</i> hungry?”</p><p>“Always,” Darlington responded, and there was little humor in the word. “Not to worry, though, Tripp’s soul would be nowhere near as attractive as yours was.”</p><p>Alex stared at him, her mouth open in an aghast expression. “Darlington, if you ate part of my soul—”</p><p>“Joking, Stern. Our connection is very different, but just as compelling to me.”</p><p>She didn’t know what to say to that, so she didn’t say anything at all as they stepped into the theater. The Bonesmen were already setting up their prognostication instruments and table. Alex refused to hurry to accommodate them. They could just risk Grays if they were so eager to get going. Not that the Grays would ever actually appear now that Darlington was around. In fact, the two who usually hung out for the prognostications were nowhere to be seen.</p><p>Alex handed Darlington a piece of bone-dust chalk and asked him, “Can you even help with these rituals now, or am I doing this on my own?”</p><p>“I can help you mark the symbols, yes. In fact, what I add will keep out all manner of demons and anything else that would cross over if allowed to.”</p><p>“Thanks,” Alex said as she leaned over and started drawing. She had the sense he was watching her, and she turned her head to catch him staring none too subtly at her ass. She must not be the only one affected by the buzz and hum between them.</p><p>“Do you mind, Darlington?” she asked tartly, although part of her preened under his attention. She stuffed that part of her down as far as possible and watched him turn to begin drawing his own parts of the circle. The symbols he added weren’t familiar to her, and she wondered if even Dawes would recognize them from her studies. Possibly not if they were imported from a hell dimension.</p><p>When the Bonesmen wheeled in the patient—or was it the victim, Alex wondered—they set up the stretcher and the IV in the center of the circle. Everything had been set up before the Haruspex entered, snapping on her surgical gloves, an underclassman tying the strings of her surgical smock behind her. Alex looked away as she always did when they actually started operating, but the smell soon reached her. She tried not to gag and pulled out the ginger candies Darlington had always recommended. He looked upon the proceedings with a thoughtful expression on his face.</p><p>The Haruspex started calling out their findings in Dutch as always, and as always Alex couldn’t understand a word of it. She watched Darlington’s face instead for any sign of what they were talking about and to distract her from the smell and the sounds. She refused to throw up in front of him despite her roiling nausea. At one point, his eyebrows flickered up in surprise for a moment, but that was the only reaction she could get from him in response to whatever the Bonesmen were trying to get information on through their divination. There was a sense of urgency in the Haruspex’s questioning that was more intense than normal, and Alex could tell something was up.</p><p>After the human vessel had been rolled away and the Skull and Bones members had filed out to do whatever it was they did afterwards, she turned to Darlington with an expectant expression as they cleaned up and wiped the bone dust leavings from the floor.</p><p>“Well?” she asked impatiently. “Did they say anything helpful?”</p><p>“Not exactly,” Darlington said, shaking his head. “They’re looking for something, though.”</p><p>It felt like that was only a small part of it and that he wasn’t telling her the whole story. As if sensing what she was thinking, he turned to face her fully.</p><p>“You will just have to trust me this time. I have no reason to lie.”</p><p>“That doesn’t mean you aren’t doing it,” Alex muttered in response.</p><p>One corner of his mouth turned up. “As I said, you will just have to trust me.”</p><p>“Fine. Let’s get out of here. It’s been a long day, and Dawes is probably waiting for us at the house.”</p><p>As they left, Alex mulled over all the different bits and pieces of what they had and hadn’t discovered. It felt like they were playing a chess match against someone who could see the whole board while she could only nudge her pieces forward in the dark without any kind of sense of what was right in front of her.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next day, Alex skipped class to meet with her advisor as Cartwright had demanded. It felt strange to walk around campus like she didn’t have a care in the world. She’d stopped just short of ordering Darlington to stay at the house on Orange, but she was trying to trust him as he’d said she must eventually do. How much trouble could he get in while she was gone, anyway? she wondered.</p><p>Grosvenor’s office door loomed up in front of her when she made her way to the Humanities faculty building, and she gave a frustrated huff. How was she supposed to focus on getting good grades if she never actually got to go to class or do her homework instead of all the administrative crap like this she needed to take care of. She knocked on the door and heard Grosvenor’s voice call out for her to enter. Sticking her head around the open door, she saw the office was still a disaster zone, although the one chair on the opposite side of his desk had been cleared off.</p><p>“Alex! Welcome. Here, sit down,” he said, gesturing to the chair. She wove her way around piles of books and sat gingerly on the edge of the seat. “I wanted to check in with you about your time away and your schedule. I don’t want to press you for details about your emergency family situation if you don’t want to share anything,” he trailed off, looking expectant. When Alex didn’t respond, he continued. “I like to have my advisees keep up to date with their professors when they take a leave of absence like yours. Just get your professors’ signatures on this form to indicate that they think you can catch up and that you have everything you need, and then give it back to me. After that, you’ll be all set.”</p><p>Alex nodded, ready to get out of there, but the Bosch painting caught her eye again. It couldn’t hurt to ask Grosvenor about the demon that haunted her waking and sleeping hours. </p><p>“Can I ask you about your research?” she asked, and he nodded.</p><p>“Fire away,” he said cheerfully.</p><p>“So you know about demons.”</p><p>“Oh yes,” he said, practically rubbing his hands together until he seemed to think about the implication for a moment. “Why and what exactly do you want to know about them?”</p><p>Alex cast her mind around and about for an excuse, and found herself saying, “I want to do an extra credit assignment for my African Diaspora class on demons and spirits.”</p><p>“Okay, then. What can I tell you that would be most helpful?” he asked.</p><p>“What do they typically want? Like, why make deals?”</p><p>Grosvenor tipped his head back in thought for a moment. “Well, that’s something of a mystery. Demons are said to thrive on chaos and destruction. Their appetites are rapacious, and their motives are often unclear due to their very inhumanity.”</p><p>Alex nodded. That checked out with the kinds of things Darlington was saying and doing.</p><p>“You also have to understand the hierarchies of hell from princes down to the lowly incubus. Some demons would make deals to improve their standing among their peers like any salesman on a sales force. Their customers are usually witches or regular people who want something in return for their souls or the opportunity to make mischief on earth.”</p><p>Alex contemplated how she wasn’t exactly the average person with her Wheelwalker abilities. “How did the witches make deals?”</p><p>“The traditional European variety of demon is what I’m most familiar with. The witches tended to want something like power or freedom from a patriarchal society. They made deals involving sex or casting misfortune on another in exchange for abilities like flying or love charms or anything they may have needed to get ahead in society.”</p><p>He looked regretful when his eyes strayed to the clock over Alex’s shoulder. “Unfortunately, I have to go, but I hope that helps give you a start. I can recommend some books and articles you might find interesting. I’ll send you an email about it.”</p><p>“That would be great,” Alex said. Then she paused after she stood. “So, hypothetically, what would a witch do to maintain control over a demon for the long term?”</p><p>Grosvenor laughed. “Oh, that’s the thing. They never had control. Not really. They would have been fooling themselves on that front. Demons would be far too manipulative to be trusted to not find a way to break a deal or the witch would be outed in some way, possibly even through the demon’s interference.”</p><p>“So,” she said slowly, “the smart thing to do would be to have never made the deal.”</p><p>“Definitely. Once you’ve made a deal, you’ve already lost the battle. There would probably have been no getting out in one piece. But the temptation may have just been too great. Theoretically, that is.”</p><p>“Yeah, theoretically,” Alex said as she made her way out of his office with the form in hand. “Thanks,” she said, and he nodded.</p><p>“Anytime. Happy to talk shop, and just bring that back when you have all the signatures.”</p><p>Alex turned and left, her brain whirring with indecision. Maybe she should just cut her losses and send Darlington back to hell. It would be safer and god knew it would be less trouble, but there was something about him that made her hesitate to even think such a thing. What would it mean for him if she sent him back? Probably nothing good, she thought. And then all the effort and risk to get him back to the mortal world would have all been for nothing. Besides, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be able to solve whatever riddle was in front of her without his help.</p><p>She stepped out of the Humanities building into a crisp, beautiful day. The sun lit up the clouds like puffy streaks of cotton candy that lined the sky. It was exactly what a Fall day should look like, and her mood felt unexpectedly buoyant as she walked towards the house on Orange. When she entered the house, she saw Dawes standing in the parlor staring at her note cards and rearranging them on the floor as usual. But this time, Darlington sat on the couch and watched the cards as well.</p><p>“Perhaps if you moved the paragraphs on Death and Trisheros to the section in the third chapter, then the connection would be clearer,” Darlington mused.</p><p>“You don’t think connecting the Death card and the Death god is too obvious?” Dawes asked with a hint of scepticism.</p><p>Darlington shrugged and opened his mouth to say something more, but Alex cleared her throat. “Sorry to interrupt, but I want to steal Darlington. We need to go to Black Elm and start trying to figure out where the power source affecting Michelle is coming from.”</p><p>Dawes made a disappointed sound but nodded. “Just give me a call if you need me to do anything from this end.”</p><p>Alex turned to Darlington as they left the house. “Well you two were looking very chummy back there. What flipped the switch and got her to like you again?”</p><p>“I’m very persuasive,” Darlington said. “The key to Pammie is and always will be meeting her on an intellectual footing.”</p><p>Alex found herself asking, “And what about me? How would you persuade me of something?”</p><p>Darlington smiled a predatory smile at that. “For you I would move heaven and earth to give you what you wanted. I would give you all manner of things—the stars themselves—if you granted me what I wanted in exchange.”</p><p>“Very poetic,” she muttered. She wasn’t sure if she should ask him what he did in fact want, despite the rush of curiosity and desire that filled her veins. Perhaps it would do nobody any good to know, least of all her. Besides, would he even give her a straight answer for once? It seemed doubtful. </p><p>She changed the subject quickly. “Do you think you’ll be able to get into Black Elm? It seemed like what Sandow did might have made it hard for you to get inside. Dawes said it barred you from the place when you tried to come over last time.”</p><p>If Darlington minded the turn in conversation, he didn’t show it. “It doesn’t matter,” he said with a shrug. “That is a part of my life that is long over. All that the house signified has been overturned.”</p><p>She almost stopped the car in her shock. “You love that house,” she exclaimed. “I’ve never known anyone to love anything the way you love that house. It was like it was a living thing.”</p><p>“Things change,” Darlington said, as he looked out the car window, his eyes shuttered once more.</p><p>They rode in silence after that, and Alex tried to think of something to say to break the tension between them. She couldn’t believe he would ever just not care about Black Elm. It seemed so formative to everything Darlington was. When they pulled into the drive and Alex parked, she could see his hands were clenched into fists. He followed a few steps behind her as they walked up the gravel-covered stretch to the front door. When she unlocked and opened it, she turned her head and saw he’d stopped several feet away.</p><p>“You can’t come in, can you?” she asked softly.</p><p>“It doesn’t matter,” he repeated as he looked away out over the grounds, but his voice was hoarse.</p><p>“I’ll be right back. Is there anything besides your clothes you want me to grab? Books or something?”</p><p>“There’s nothing,” he said shortly and turned away from her to walk around the side of the house. Alex couldn’t blame him for being upset. She herself was disappointed, hoping that Black Elm could have been one more thing to bring a sense of normalcy to Darlington--even a sense of humanity. That hope seemed shattered now.</p><p>Entering Darlington’s dusty old room held an air of finality to it as if she knew she wouldn’t come back here again, and she carefully gathered together his things in a duffel bag. The piles of books would have to stay. Maybe Dawes would know what to do with them or could give them a home. As she looked over the desk, she remembered she still had the enigmatic newspaper clipping that had once been tacked up on the wall. It didn’t seem like a good idea to give it to a distraught Darlington right now when he might tear it to bits, but maybe she could show it to him soon to give him a keepsake of the house. A keepsake of the time when he’d once been human.</p><p>She made her way down the silent stairs and through the dim room where the windows had shattered during the casting when they’d tried to find him earlier that year. It really did feel as if she was saying goodbye to the place, and a feeling of melancholy filled her until she shook herself and remembered that the one who’d really lost out in this situation was Darlington. At that, she hurried out the back door and began to look around for him.</p><p>There was no sign of him at first. Nothing moved until a streak of white dashed through the growing undergrowth filling a garden area that had never been prepared for winter. She recognized the blur as Cosmo and followed the path the cat had made. Alex had never come out this way, and she was surprised to find the path led to some kind of a layout with the hedges. When she stumbled across a kind of doorway opening in the greenery, she entered and took a few steps to her right. It was a simple labyrinth, she realized. She took a few turns, and the hedge’s scraggly branches tugged lightly at her clothes whenever she got too close to the edges. When she stumbled across the center, Alex took a breath, seeing Darlington sitting on a stone bench with his back to her.</p><p>“You found me, then,” he said in a deceptively calm voice.</p><p>“Yeah. I just followed Cosmo. What did you do to spook him?”</p><p>“My existence is terrifying enough. I’m afraid Cosmo took one sniff and ran from me as fast as he could go.”</p><p>Alex’s heart broke a little at his matter-of-fact tone. She settled on the bench next to him. His hand lay on the cold stone beside her. On an impulse she didn’t want to analyze very much, she laid her own hand over the top of his. The hum filled her with its pleasurable buzzing weight, probably due to the fact that she’d initiated contact with him. It surprised her when he shifted his hand in order to lace their fingers together. She didn’t begrudge him the contact, knowing he might need something to anchor him to this moment. Warmth began to fill her from their point of contact, unfurling through her body in a steady wave, and she fought to ignore it to focus on the matter at hand.</p><p>She cleared her throat. “I’ll ask Dawes to come get Cosmo. We could always take him to the house on Orange for the winter.”</p><p>Darlington made a sound. “He’ll hate it. He’s used to being free and having the best of both worlds.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, Darlington,” she said, and they both knew she wasn’t just talking about Cosmo.</p><p>He shrugged. “It is what it is.” But his grip on her hand grew tighter. After a little while of sitting in silence, he asked her out of the blue, “Tell me what you liked best about my former self.”</p><p>Alex thought about it for a moment--really thought about it. “I liked that you loved your projects and all the things you tried to fix. I liked how much you loved this place and that you were willing to do anything to keep it whole. I even liked your stupid running.”</p><p>“That is a wide variety of things you seem to have liked.”</p><p>“Well, yeah. You were a pain in the ass—<i>are</i> a pain in the ass, really—but I liked how much you cared about everything. Literally everything it seemed like.”</p><p>“It’s harder to hold onto that part of who I was,” he admitted.</p><p>“Well, I know Dawes and I would feel much better if we knew you were trying to get that part of yourself back.”</p><p>“I’ll try,” he said slowly. “But I can make no promises.”</p><p>They continued to sit, and although it was chilly besides the heat radiating between the two of them, neither seemed to want to break the spell. Darlington began to stroke the palm of her hand very gently with his thumb in a slow circle as if preoccupied, and it made her focus every part of her body on that point of contact. </p><p>A thought occurred to her. “Your parents never came looking for you.”</p><p>“Hm?’ he said, breaking out of his reverie. “I can’t say I’m surprised. The ‘layabouts’ never cared much for anything or anyone but themselves, least of all me.”</p><p>He said it so matter-of-factly that Alex couldn’t help but stare at him. She may not have had much, but she was suddenly grateful for all the time and love and worry Mira had poured into her.</p><p>“Luckily for me,” he said with a secretive smile, “you were a little more willing to risk everything to come get me.” His stroking thumb became more intent in its course as he ran it carefully over the pulse point on her wrist. Alex knew it was a terrible idea, but she felt herself slipping into a delicious haze of longing. She tried to startle herself out of it by grasping at anything to interrupt the feeling.</p><p>“So what did this place used to look like?” she gasped out. Darlington took her question in stride.</p><p>“Would you like to see?” he asked.</p><p>Alex frowned in confusion. “What do you mean? No offense, but it’s kind of a mess right now.”</p><p>“Close your eyes,” he said instead of explaining.</p><p>She felt suspicious, like he was mocking her, but she obeyed and felt darkness all around her when she let her eyelids fall closed. Nothing happened at first, but then it seemed as if something began to shimmer around the edges of the darkness and a vision began to form in her field of sight. It felt as if warm sunlight played on her skin, and Alex gasped as she heard bees buzzing and droning in the air around her in a lazy dance.</p><p>“Darlington,” she asked gruffly, “what are you doing?”</p><p>“Showing you,” he said simply, and the maze came into focus in that moment with shapely, trimmed hedges and lush greenery. The scent of roses and cut green grass filled her nose. Alex couldn’t help but marvel at the detail of the image with every grass blade and every needle in the hedges placed in sharp relief. Everything was so sharp, it was almost like she was high on something.</p><p>“How are you doing this?” she marveled. “It’s amazing.”</p><p>“It’s one of my abilities now to share images and visions. This is simply a memory of what it looked like when I was young and played here in the summer.”</p><p>She didn’t want to break the spell that seemed to have fallen over them, but she eased her eyes open. Darlington sat a few inches closer, and his long fingers felt incomparably good when he reached up and touched her face as light as a bird’s feather. Alex stared into his eyes.</p><p>“Thank you for rescuing me,” he said softly.</p><p>She swallowed. “No problem,’ her voice was low and raspy, and her lips parted when his gaze dropped down to them. He was going to kiss her. And was she going to let him, she wondered? She wasn’t sure if it was a good idea. In fact, she knew after talking with Grosvenor it was a terrible idea, but she wanted to so badly anyway.</p><p>She found herself slowly drifting toward him like a planet pulled into a black hole’s orbit. The sheer inevitability of it drowned her, crushed her, and destroyed her completely as if reducing her to her atoms. And still she didn’t care about the consequences. When he leaned toward her and brushed his lips so very lightly against hers, it felt like a deep bell rang through her body and soul, tuned to vibrate through her very bones and sinews. It felt so very right as his mouth began to move soft and sweet as he kissed her. She hesitated, then began to respond, parting her lips and opening to his caress.</p><p>He made a sound low in his throat when she slid her tongue into his mouth with gentle insistence. It felt like the first time they’d ever kissed, and she dimly realized that was part-way true. Everything else had been the intangibility of dreams. This was real in the here and now, and she reveled in it when he raised his hands to frame her face to deepen their kiss further. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, letting her fingers weave into the soft silk of his hair.</p><p>When she tugged on it slightly to urge him on, one of his hands slid down to her waist to pull her closer. It felt so good there, stroking up and down her side in a gentle motion. She wanted it higher so that he was touching even more of her, and he seemed to read her body language as he drew his hand upwards until his thumb just traced the underside of her breast. He nipped her lower lip lightly when she gasped, and the gesture made her remember the deal they had between them and the way he’d bitten her lip in that kiss as well. </p><p>That memory managed to throw some ice water onto her consciousness, and she jerked back from him. He let her go reluctantly. Before she could gather her thoughts, she saw that his attention was focused elsewhere. A black dog stood on the edge of the green, lush maze. It gazed intently at Alex, and something deep inside her made her open her mouth to call out for it.</p><p>Then Darlington picked up a rock from the ground and threw it at the dog. It vanished into the undergrowth, and Alex’s eyes snapped open. She was back in the real world again where the breeze was chilly and the clouds had covered the sun. Darlington’s eyes were wide, his pupils dilated so much they were almost wholly black as when he didn’t hide the demon that he was. She knew she probably looked just as ruffled.</p><p>For a moment, a frustrated sense of futility swept through her. Why couldn’t she just be into a normal guy like Simms, or a relatively normal guy who still understood parts of her world. But Darlington understood the entirety of her whole world. He understood <i>her</i>. And he didn’t shy away from what she was, either, especially now.</p><p>“What was that?” she asked, her voice a little reedy. “Why did you scare it away?”</p><p>“You don’t want a black dog following you home,” Darlington replied. “Harbinger of death. That’s the last thing you need.” Something about his words seemed off, though. The feeling she’d felt when seeing the dog didn’t seem threatening—quite the opposite. Alex suddenly remembered North’s words not to trust Darlington. Perhaps he really was hiding something from her.</p><p>“We should go,” she said, and her voice came out slightly hoarse. Darlington nodded and rose to his feet, offering her a hand up. She pretended not to see it, needing to be apart from him for a moment to recover herself. They were quiet as they walked to the car, and Alex took the driver’s seat, needing to feel in control for a little while.</p><p>“How are we going to do this?” she asked, and it made her feel better to be in charge even if there was no plan and things seemed to be spiraling out of control in every other part of her life. She didn’t hate the recklessness of it as she had expected she would, though. Instead, a current like a live wire ran over her nerves, and she felt more alive than she had in months. It was as if something about the unknown called to her.</p><p>“Drive us back towards the university, and I’ll try to follow the energy leaking out from wherever and whatever is generating it,” Darlington said. “Something that large will leave a trace.”</p><p>Alex did as he directed, and they made their way along side streets and avenues with Darlington pointing one direction or another. His eyes were closed and his brow furrowed in concentration. She tried not to distract him, but they were nearing an area she started to feel was very familiar for some reason. It came to her that they were in Vinia’s neighborhood. She made a sound and Darlington cracked one of his eyes open to look at her expectantly.</p><p>“I know where we need to go,” she said and turned them in the direction of the townhouse. When they pulled up outside of it, Darlington closed his eyes once more and took in a deep breath.</p><p>“This is the correct place,” he confirmed. “Something is straining at the bounds of the wards, although they’re strong enough that it will take me some time to break through them.</p><p>Alex was about to tell him to take all the time he needed when there was a sharp rap on the passenger-side window. Darlington’s eyes snapped open and Alex looked over to see Vinia herself standing on the sidewalk next to their car wearing a deep blue sweater that looked fabulously expensive along with a slate-colored coat. She motioned that Alex should roll the window down, which she did hesitantly.</p><p>“Alex, dear,” Vinia said. “I was just getting back from a walk. Whatever are you doing hovering outside my house? Feel free to come inside with your gentleman friend for a cup of coffee if you’re here to talk about something.”</p><p>Alex ignored her offer and ground out, “Cut the bullshit. What did you do to Michelle? I know it was you.”</p><p>Vinia was silent for a split-second as if contemplating whether to deny it or not. Finally, she raised her lips in a small smile as if congratulating Alex. “Well, of course it was me,” she said, shaking her head slightly. “You didn’t think the timing was awfully convenient for me to have moved to town? Honestly, I thought you’d have been here a lot sooner." She clicked her tongue in mock-disapproval, and Alex ground her teeth at the sound.</p><p>“Whatever you did, turn it off or I’m going to make you very sorry you came after us,” she gritted out. But Vinia only laughed in response, the tinkling sound grating against her nerves.</p><p>“Perhaps if you had taken me up on my offer, then I wouldn’t have had to resort to stronger measures to clear the board of your friend,” She gave Alex a condescending smile, “And I don’t take well to threats, so unless you’re going to make good on them, you can save your breath.”</p><p>Alex saw red for a moment, and before she could even consider what the consequences would be, she snapped, “Darlington—”</p><p>“Yes. About him,” Vinia interrupted, then she bent down and whispered something for a long moment in Darlington’s ear. He stilled where he’d begun to move, and his eyes flashed to black for a split-second before returning to normal. He looked like he was in shock.</p><p>“What did you just do?” Alex demanded, staring at the two of them.</p><p>“Nothing for you to worry about,” Vinia said. “Now, unless you’re going to come up for some coffee and take me up on my offer of assistance, I’m going to have to ask you to leave. I don’t want to cause a scene with the neighbors looking on. Discretion and all that since I plan to be here for a very, very long time.”</p><p>With a small wave, she left the car window and walked to her front door. Alex rounded on Darlington after Vinia had entered and shut the door. “What the hell happened?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Darlington said, his voice very far away as if he was lost in thought.</p><p>“Well, what did she say, then?” she asked, exasperated.</p><p>He shook his head. “I don’t remember. Just something about being welcome to come back by myself. The rest is a blank.”</p><p>“Great. Just great,” Alex raged. “She’s got some sort of power over Michelle and now she’s got you somehow, too. Aren’t you a demon? That shit shouldn’t affect you.”</p><p>Darlington frowned and looked more like himself. “Normally, I would agree with you. But there is something very strange about her and the energy coming off of this place. I can’t penetrate it, and that alone is cause for worry.”</p><p>“Well, let’s get out of here, then. We can try to figure it out back at the house.” She started up the car and drove a touch faster than she should have back to Il Bastone, but her emotions were all twisted up. There was frustrated lust from wanting to be with Darlington, confusion and even more frustration over whatever was going on with Vinia, and deep foreboding that something big was heading toward them. Whatever it was, she would have to be prepared, and that seemed more and more impossible the more she tried to grasp onto the ground that seemed to be crumbling beneath her feet.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A deep silence overtook the car as they drove back to the house. Darlington just stared straight ahead with his brows pinched together in confusion while Alex kept sneaking looks his way to make sure he was okay. After several minutes of this, Darlington seemed to shake himself awake. </p><p>“Everything okay, Darlington?” Alex asked warily. </p><p>He nodded, then cleared his throat and said, “I believe so.” The silence continued until he interjected, “I wanted to thank you again for earlier. I appreciate the gesture of taking me to Black Elm. I apologize if I was churlish at first.”</p><p>“I wouldn’t call it that,” Alex said, her cheeks going pink as she thought of making out with him on the bench in the maze. Her physical sensations roared to life again at the mental image. “You were plenty apologetic afterwards.”</p><p>Darlington gave a low laugh that made her stomach drop. “I’m glad you think so.” He paused a moment and added, “We never talked about your misplaced time.”</p><p>Alex frowned. “Yeah? What about it?”</p><p>“You mentioned that you should have celebrated your birthday, correct?”</p><p>She blinked in surprise at the sudden change in subject to something that seemed so trivial. “I guess, sure,” she said as she glanced back over to him. “It’s not a big deal, though. I would have probably just brought something back to the dorm room for Mercy and the others. I’ve had plenty of liquor in my life. There’s nothing new about it.” She sighed. “It just would have been…I don’t know…<i>nice</i> to have a night celebrating it with friends.”</p><p>He tilted his head to meet her gaze and replied, “If you would like to go out and do something to celebrate, then you should.” One corner of his mouth ticked up in a smile. “I have somewhere I would like to take you if you’re interested.”</p><p>She hesitated, unsure what to say. Unsure what she wanted to say. “Can we afford to take a break from everything that’s going on?”</p><p>“Pammie is watching over all that she can from the house. Until the Societies give us another clue, it seems we are rather stuck at the moment.” He looked forward once more. “Besides, you only turn twenty-one once. Not to mention if something happens to the both of us, at least we would have a good memory to go out on.”</p><p>“Jesus, Darlington. Have a little faith in us,” Alex shot back. She considered for a moment before saying, “I guess it can’t hurt to go do something while we wait. What did you have in mind?”</p><p>“Have you ever been to the Yale Art Gallery?” he asked.</p><p>Alex gave him a look. “What do you think?”</p><p>Darlington laughed. “You should give it a try, then. I worked at the Peabody to keep up the repairs at Black Elm, but the gallery was where I always preferred to be. I’d very much like to show you around.” When she hesitated again, he said, “ Who knows? You may even enjoy it, but you wouldn’t be thinking of what we can’t solve right now.”</p><p>She nodded slowly before repeating, “I guess.” She looked at him sidelong and couldn’t keep the suspicion from lacing her voice. “Is this supposed to be a date?”</p><p>“It’s supposed to be a birthday celebration. If you want it to be a date, that’s up to you entirely.”</p><p>“Let’s say it’s a birthday and see how it goes from there,” she said, looking away from him. Alex knew she shouldn’t encourage him, but she also couldn’t quite seem to be able to stop herself. A date with Darlington. Who would have thought before he went to hell? It wasn’t that she hadn’t pictured it after they’d woken up in bed together the morning after the Manuscript debacle, but she’d never considered it as an honest-to-god possibility. Now that possibility was staring her in the face and she realized she didn’t mind the thought. She actually kind of liked it. </p><p>Then she reminded herself of what he was and that she still didn’t know his intentions or even what Vinia had done to him that had obviously affected him somehow. Did she trust Darlington? That was a big question mark.</p><p>He wore a small smile on his face when they dropped her off at her dorm and he slid into the driver’s seat. “I’ll see you in a few hours, then,” he said, and she nodded before walking up the sidewalk to Jonathan Edwards and climbing the stairs to her dorm room in a daze.</p><p>“Alex!” she heard Lauren exclaim when she walked in the door. “My god, you’re actually here! Terry and I were about to start taking bets on if you were still alive or not.” </p><p>Alex gave an awkward wave and laughed. “I’m alive. I’ve been staying with Aunt Eileen for the last few days.”</p><p>“How’s your mom?” </p><p>She realized she’d never gotten a full answer out of Dawes about what exactly they’d told everyone about why she’d supposedly gone out west.</p><p>“Uh, she’s fine now,” she said vaguely in response to Lauren’s question. </p><p>“Didn’t your birthday happen while you were out there?”</p><p>“Yeah,” she said. “It kind of sucks that I wasn’t here with you guys.”</p><p>“We have to do something tonight,” Mercy exclaimed.</p><p>Alex shook her head. “I promised Darlington I’d hang out with him tonight, but soon?”</p><p>“Oh, sure. Family stuff always comes first for you,” Lauren agreed without rancor. “But soon, yes. We can give you money for wine or something and you can get it for us all to share. Perfect way to celebrate you being legal,” she laughed. </p><p>“Sounds like a plan,” Alex said with a smile, somehow unsurprised that was the way Lauren’s mind had begun to run. “Hey, Mercy. Can I borrow a dress for tonight? Mine got a wine stain on it at the scholarship dinner.”</p><p>“Sure,” she said. “Where are you going?” she asked as she led Alex to her room and began sorting through her closet.</p><p>“Art gallery and then dinner I think,” Alex said.</p><p>“I have just the thing,” Mercy said, “although it’s too bad it will be wasted on your cousin.” She pulled out a dress and handed it to Alex. “It’s not my style, but I wore it to a wedding last summer, and it would look great on you with your skin tone.”</p><p>Alex took the dress from her gingerly. “Thanks. Can I wear boots with it?”</p><p>“Boots?” Mercy squawked. “No, you can’t wear boots with it. Here, wear these heels,” she said, handing Alex a sleek pair of strappy shoes</p><p>“I don’t do heels,” Alex protested.</p><p>“Make an exception,” Mercy insisted. “They’ll look so good.”</p><p>Alex grumbled an assent and took the shoes in her other hand and headed towards her room to put them on. When she emerged with her hair brushed, lip gloss on, and her hoops in, her roommates stared at her for a moment.</p><p>“Wow,” Lauren said.</p><p>“Yeah. Wow,” Terry echoed.</p><p>Alex smoothed the dress along her sides. It was a semi-nude sheath with a black lace overlay. It almost looked like the lace rode along her bare skin with nothing underneath. The heels added a few inches to her height and lengthened her legs to an unexpected degree. She felt slightly unsteady on her feet, but she also felt absurdly pleased with how good she knew she looked.</p><p>“What did I tell you?” Mercy crowed. “Like I said, it’s just too bad it’s wasted on your cousin. Maybe you’ll meet somebody while you’re walking around the gallery, though.”</p><p>“Yeah, maybe,” Alex said, although her mind was awhirl with wondering what Darlington would make of her new if not exactly improved look.</p><p>She pulled her phone out and texted him.</p><p>
  <i>Ready whenever you are. Just let me know when you want to go</i>
</p><p>His reply came back immediately.</p><p>
  <i>I’ll be there in a few minutes</i>
</p><p>She suppressed her feelings of anticipation and said goodbye to her roommates who wished her well as she headed out. Standing out on the curb, she watched for any sign of the car or Darlington. A nervous thrill filled her stomach when she saw him turn the corner and stride down the sidewalk in his black coat and boots, looking wind-tousled. He took in the sight of her in high heels and smiled.</p><p>“You dressed up. We could go out to the Union League down the street from the gallery if you’d like. Make it a proper birthday.”</p><p>“Ok. Sure,” Alex said, feeling bashful all of a sudden as it became a certified date rather than a fancy hangout.</p><p>“Shall we?” Darlington asked, and they walked the few minutes around the block to get to the gallery.</p><p>“You live right next to this place. How have you never actually gone inside?” he said with a hint of teasing in his voice.</p><p>“You know me, Darlington. High-class shit is not my usual thing.”</p><p>“Yes, well, it might be if you gave it a try.”</p><p>“Don’t be too sure,” she said, but she was looking forward to him proving to her that she did belong in this dress and in this space as they went inside. The gallery building loomed before them, and Darlington steered her off to the left as they entered.</p><p>She looked around at the cement ceiling with its triangular pattern as they walked, her heels clicking on the shining wood floors. “You probably know where you’re going,” Alex commented.</p><p>“I’d like to show you a bit of everything to see what you like best,” he said with a shrug. They entered the next part of the building, and even Alex could tell that they’d stepped into an entirely different architectural time period.</p><p>“The Fine Arts students in the ‘20s used to use this part of the gallery to learn all about sculpture and Gothic architecture style,” Darlington explained. “Some of my favorite pieces are in here.” </p><p>Glass cases stood on pedestals ranged around the room, all lit up by the floor-to-ceiling windows with their arches and many panes. They wandered among the vases and figures, and Alex took in the large piece listed as a Greek amphora with its strangely-proportioned horses pulling a chariot and a figure holding a shield with a pegasus emblazoned on it. She turned her head to tell Darlington her thoughts on it, but noticed he seemed to be captivated by another vase. He almost didn’t react when she stepped up close to him to see what had his attention. </p><p>It seemed to be some kind of horrific monster made up of a mix of a man’s torso with the lower body of a coiled snake. Its large wings were outspread. </p><p>“What’s that supposed to be?” Alex asked.</p><p>“It’s Typhon. He was a sea deity and the son of Gaia and Tartarus—the earth goddess and the god of the underworld.” Darlington continued to look at it intently. “This was always one of my least favorite of the Greek pieces. I find there’s something about it now that calls to me, though.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “Apollodorus wrote that Typhon was made all of coils of vipers and dragon heads, outspread wings, and eyes flashing fire. </p><p>He paused and Alex didn’t know what to say. “Scary,” she commented in order to at least say something. Her curiosity finally got the better of her as he continued to gaze at it. “Why do you like it so much now?” she asked. </p><p>“I think it’s that I can relate to it now where I never could before,” he said with what was not quite a smile. </p><p>Alex felt sad all of a sudden at what Darlington had lost in his time in hell. Without thinking too much about it, she reached over and took his hand like she had in the maze. He glanced down with a curious expression on his face, but he wrapped his fingers around hers gently. The tie between them seemed to vibrate in slow, pleasurable waves in Alex’s center. She continued to hold onto him, although she didn’t know if it was the right thing to do. They walked that way through the rest of the gallery floors. She tried not to let it, but the sensation of their hands touching dominated her attention more than any of the artworks. </p><p>That was until they stepped up to a large photograph on the fourth floor. Something about it caught Alex’s attention, and she stared at it for a long time. She read the card next to it: “U.S. 285, New Mexico”.</p><p>“You like it,” Darlington stated, sounding pleased that she’d finally found something to interest her. Alex nodded, and he asked her, “What do you like about it?” </p><p>She tried to put her thoughts into words. “It feels like I could just step into it. Into an adventure. Like there’s a whole world waiting on the other side of the frame.” She paused, wondering if she sounded stupid, but also wondering if that was what it would be like if she was free of Lethe and Yale and everything she clung to here. Perhaps that was what it would be like if she used the rest of the Scroll and Key tablets left to her. For the first time, she realized that perhaps what she wanted wasn’t safety and security at all, but adventure and limitless opportunity. </p><p>Alex cleared her throat, unnerved, and pulled her hand away from his. “I think I’ve seen enough here. You said something about dinner? Or a drink?” She almost winced, feeling as if she should take back her request. Instead, she seemed to be stretching out this thing that was becoming harder and harder to deny was a date. But it would be nice, she thought. It <i>was</i> supposed to be a replacement for her birthday, after all.</p><p>Darlington nodded with a small smile as if he felt her inner conflict and knew he’d won out. “Cafe down the street it is, then.”</p><p>Alex wrinkled her nose. “We could just stop by a pizza shop for a beer.”</p><p>“I want to do this properly,” Darlinton said with a shake of his head. “Like I said, you only turn twenty-one once.”</p><p>“Shouldn’t we be doing a pub crawl, then?”</p><p>Darlington looked horrified at the suggestion.</p><p>“Okay, okay,” Alex said, holding up her hands. “We’ll do your thing.”</p><p>Clouds had started to gather when they stepped out of the art gallery. Alex stuffed her hands in her pockets to avoid the temptation to take Darlington’s hand again. She was glad they didn’t have far to go. When they stepped inside, she immediately felt out of place among the arching windows and tables laid out with candles and fancy chairs despite knowing she looked the part in Mercy’s dress.</p><p>“You didn’t say it was this fancy,” she muttered to him.</p><p>“It’s just French food. You’ll be fine,” he replied in a voice that was probably meant to be comforting but put her hackles up slightly at the feeling that he might be patronizing her. She brushed it off, though. Darlington was always going to be Darlington. Part of her was exasperated, but part of her felt reassured at the similarity to his old self.</p><p>He steered her to a table, and they ordered dinner and drinks before easing into talking. Somehow he managed to keep it light. Where did she like working best of all her jobs? What had her house been like where she grew up? What did Mira do now for a living?</p><p>It calmed her to talk about Los Angeles in this way for once instead of making her second-guess all of the decisions that had led her to Yale.</p><p>“And where have you always wanted to go if you could travel?” he asked, continuing his line of questions, but the answer didn’t come so easily to that one as the others had.</p><p>She shrugged. “Nowhere. I never thought I’d make it out of Los Angeles, if I’m totally honest.”</p><p>Darlington watched her carefully. “You must know that Yale will open doors for you.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah. It seems like everyone is telling me that lately.”</p><p>“You don’t think it’s true?” he asked.</p><p>“What I think is that your question sounds an awful lot like the same goddamn thing everybody has been asking me.”</p><p>“Which is?” Darlington asked with a raised brow.</p><p>“‘What do you want, Alex.’ Over and over and over. It’s like people won’t shut up about it. Just let me get used to school for fuck’s sake. Why do I need to think about a future that’s probably going to suck?”</p><p>“So stick with where you would like to go,” he said calmly. “Nothing more than that. Where is one place you would like to see someday?”</p><p>“I don’t know,” Alex huffed. “Maybe that place we saw in the photograph to see if it’s as amazing as it looked.”</p><p>“So you do want a little adventure, then.” His smile was disarming enough that she didn’t kick him under the table. In fact, she felt as if she could let down her guard a little and show him a tiny bit of her inner life. Just a tiny bit.</p><p>“I don’t know what I want,” she admitted. “I thought I wanted boring--for everything to be predictable and the same. I don’t know, maybe that’s starting to change. Something feels different lately.”</p><p>“There is nothing wrong with growing and changing.”</p><p>“Says the guy who became a demon and escaped from hell,” Alex muttered. “You never told me what <i>you</i> wanted,” she said, feeling like it was only fair to make him answer the same questions if she had to. If it shone some light on what his motivations were, then so much the better.</p><p>Darlington reached across the table and took her hand in his once more. Alex felt startled at the contact, but she didn’t pull away.</p><p>“I want my freedom from you,” he said. The words were filled with an odd intensity that didn’t quite fit the moment as he stroked his thumb over her fingers. “I want you to trust me and to not hold me like a prisoner under your thumb. I can tell you feel something for me. Put us on an equal footing once more.”</p><p>Alex pulled her hand away from his with a jerk. “I don’t think so. I’ve seen what you can do with just a fraction of your power. There’s no way I’m letting you go.”</p><p>His eyes flashed to black for a moment. She sensed anger and frustration in that look, but he gave her a languid smile as he eased back in his chair, saying, “Well, you can’t blame me for trying.”</p><p>Alex worried her lip with her teeth, remembering that she didn’t know what he was after. Not really. “Maybe once you’ve been here longer. Once it seems like we can all trust you, then we could talk. It’s just too soon right now.</p><p>Darlington inclined his head. “Then I will have to wait. But I’m asking you not to make me wait too long, Alex.” He stood abruptly and offered her his hand. “Shall we go back to the Hutch or to the house? Or shall I walk you back to your dorm room?”</p><p>“Let’s leave Dawes to work on her dissertation in peace.” She bit her lip again in indecision as she let him draw her to her feet. “I think my roommates are away, so if you don’t mind coming back to my dorm room, I wouldn’t mind getting out of these heels.” Alex knew the real reason she wanted to go there was because she wanted to continue their time alone together despite that warning sign that had cropped up only moments earlier. She wasn’t sure how she felt about her consuming desire for him. What if it was just a manufactured feeling from the link between them? It didn’t seem that way, though. It had already felt like they had a connection from when they met in her dreams. Besides, she told herself, she could just command him to go back to Il Bastone and wait there if he started being weird.</p><p>The walk to Jonathan Edwards was quiet, but it slowly regained its companionable quality rather than its strained one after their disagreement. The two stopped at the front door as a group of first years pushed their way out onto the sidewalk, then Alex led the way up the stairs to the second floor. As she did so, she couldn’t seem to stop herself from putting an extra sway in her hips as she climbed, thinking he might be watching and appreciating her ass on the way up. Who was she kidding? If he felt the least little bit like she did in relation to him, then he was definitely looking.</p><p>Darlington smiled a little when he took in Mercy’s welcome message on the white board next to the front door. “I take it that’s supposed to be you,” he said as he pointed to one of the stick figures that had black hair and a severe frown on its face. </p><p>Alex rolled her eyes. “Mercy thought it was funny.”</p><p>“Funny <i>and</i> accurate.”</p><p>“Ha ha,” Alex said as she opened the door to 219 and stuck her head through to look around for signs of her roommates. “This visit is going to be real short if you keep that up.”</p><p>The suite did indeed seem to be empty. Alex grabbed Darlington’s hand and pulled him into her room, shutting the door behind them. When she flipped on the lamp switch, it lit the room with a dim, warm glow. In that moment, she was glad she tended to pick things up on a regular basis. Her room didn’t look so bad. There were some clothes scattered on the floor, but nary a bra or pair of underwear in sight.</p><p>She kicked off her heels as Darlington stepped over to her dresser to get out of the way and presumably to look around. There was nothing for him to see besides the small jewelry rack where she kept her earrings and one of those scent diffusers with the stick thingies stuck deep into the oil. Mercy had given it to her at the beginning of the semester as a kind of housewarming gift. The only other thing to be seen was her sketchbook.</p><p>The sketchbook that Darlington had picked up and was looking at. The sketchbook with the page opened to a study of his eyes.</p><p>Alex felt herself go beet red, and she stumbled forward to snatch it out of his hands, hopefully before he could get a good look at it. </p><p>He raised an eyebrow. “Shy about your art?”</p><p>“Something like that,” she muttered.</p><p>She padded over to the bed and sat, indicating the spot next to her. “Feel free to, y’know, sit or whatever.”</p><p>Darlington took his coat off and draped it over the desk chair before settling beside her, his long legs stretched out and crossed in front of him.</p><p>“Thanks for taking me out. It made up for missing my real birthday,” she said, trying to ease her nervous energy by talking, as per usual.</p><p>“Glad to hear it,” he replied before frowning. “I’m afraid I don’t have much in the way of gifts.” </p><p>“Besides dinner,” Alex pointed out. </p><p>He nodded. “Besides that.” His eyes darkened for a moment, then a mischievous smile crossed his face. “There seemed to be one thing you were always wanting more of, though,” he trailed off.</p><p>Alex felt wary, and she felt even more so when he leaned over and gently pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear before whispering into it, “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die.” </p><p>The feeling of his breath against the shell of her ear made a shudder race through her body. She pulled back from him after a long moment with a strained laugh. </p><p>Darlington pulled back only a hairsbreadth as he smirked. “That should do the trick against even the most recalcitrant ghosts.”</p><p>“I shouldn’t even need death words if I have you with me,” she found herself saying.</p><p>“You will always have me if you want me,” he replied. The look in his eyes made her draw a short breath. God, she wanted him, she thought. He seemed to read her expression as clearly as sentences on a page and began to close the distance between them slowly and inevitably. She stayed very still as he leaned forward. There was no hesitation from him as he gently pressed his lips to hers. She gave a small sigh at the feeling of his mouth moving slow and gentle against hers as if they had never left the maze. </p><p>He pulled back a moment later and his voice was a little hoarse as he asked, “Yes?”</p><p>“Yes,” Alex said, breathless.</p><p>A look of dark satisfaction crossed his face, and he leaned forward to capture her mouth once more. The hum between them buzzed and blazed so strong that she could have sworn the room lit up a little brighter. Then she closed her eyes and gave in to the sensations filling her. Grabbing onto his shoulders, Alex pulled him closer, and Darlington went to her willingly.</p><p>He framed her face with his hands and ran his thumbs down the length of her neck before moving to her shoulders and tracing his fingers down her arms. Hesitating only a moment, Alex turned her back to him and began to pull the zipper on the dress down as low as her arm could reach. Darlington took it the rest of the way, and she stood briefly to shimmy out of it. When the dress hit the floor, it left her in only her black lace bra and underwear. She was absurdly happy that she’d chosen the nicer matching set that she owned since the look on his face was worth the effort.  </p><p>“You know you are very, very beautiful,” he said softly, his eyes roaming over her body.</p><p>“Shut up,” she said, embarrassed but pleased.</p><p>“Only if you let me put my mouth to better use,” he said as he met her eyes with another mischievous look.</p><p>“Deal.”</p><p>She climbed back onto the bed and stretched out with her head on the pillow before indicating that he should join her. Darlington held his body over hers so that it covered her but didn’t crush her under his weight. His lips found her neck and began to kiss from just below her ear to her pulse point while his hand stroked the length of her body. It became unbearably hard to hold back a sound when he moved lower and began to kiss the tops of her breasts, his lips like the brush of wings as his hand began to tease where her thighs met.</p><p>She loosed a breath then spread her legs slightly, allowing him to draw his fingers slow and sure along her center. It became even harder to hold back sounds as he bent his head and bit down lightly on one of her nipples where the hard nub raised the fabric of her bra. Her own hands were busy threading through his hair and stroking the breadth of his shoulders. When she tugged him upwards, he followed her silent instructions and returned his mouth to hers. She reached down and began to work her fingers at his belt and the fastenings of his jeans. As she did so, he closed his eyes and she observed the way his eyelashes fanned out against his cheeks. She paused to tilt her head up a little and brushed her lips against those cheeks before sliding her hands into his pants and letting her fingertips graze over the hard length of him.</p><p>The helpless sound he made went straight to her center where she ached to have him sliding inside. She had just taken a deep breath and begun to ease him out of his pants when the door outside banged open as it always did whenever Lauren came home. It sounded like all three of Alex’s roommates had arrived at the same time. </p><p>“For fucking fuckety fuck’s sake,” she groused under her breath as Darlington eased himself off of her in a lithe motion. “Why does this always seem to happen?”</p><p>“Someday it won’t,” he said, and the promise in his voice and in his dark eyes made her shiver.</p><p>Easing to her feet, she lifted Darlington’s coat off of her desk chair and pulled a pair of dark jeans off the seat where they sat folded up. Pulling them on as quietly as possible, she hoped her roommates wouldn’t notice she was home quite yet. She grabbed up a black sweater that the washing machine hadn’t stripped of its softness yet from an open drawer. </p><p>Darlington likewise set himself to rights as she dressed. Alex kept sneaking glances at him as he did so, but a vibration from her phone where it sat atop the dresser jerked her attention away from him.</p><p>Snatching it up, she read the message and groaned.</p><p>Darlington shot a curious look her way, and she muttered, “Someone representing the Societies ‘demands that we meet at SSS’. Apparently they need to talk to Lethe delegates about important business. Great.”</p><p>“Perhaps it will shed light on what to do about your patron.”</p><p>Alex rolled her eyes. “I think we can safely say she’s not my patron anymore.”</p><p>A knock on the door interrupted whatever Darlington was going to say in response. </p><p>Mercy poked her head in. “I thought I heard your voice! Wow, it’s dark in here.” She caught sight of Darlington and visibly perked up. “Hi there, Darlington. What are you two up to?”</p><p>“Oh. Darlington was just helping me fix a shelf in the closet that fell down.” Alex once more thanked her lucky stars for her lying skills as Mercy simply nodded.</p><p>“Aw, that’s sweet.” Mercy’s eyes widened a moment later. “Is that my dress on the floor?” she yelped.</p><p>“Oh. Yeah. Sorry, Merce. I meant to hang that up when I got back, but Darlington got here just after I’d changed,” Alex rambled trying to look as innocent as humanly possible.</p><p>“I guess it’s fine. I wasn’t planning to wear it anytime soon. Join us outside whenever you want. We just finished dinner.” She turned to Darlington once more. “Did Alex look great in that dress today or what?”</p><p>“She did indeed. Stunning, in fact.”</p><p>Alex tried hard not to blush at the words even as Darlington kept his tone casual.</p><p>“I hope you didn’t monopolize her too much while you were out tonight. This girl needs to meet someone, am I right?”</p><p>“I wouldn’t have dreamed of it,” Darlington said mildly.</p><p>“Darlington’s about to walk me to the library,” Alex broke in, unable to handle the way this conversation was heading.</p><p>“But we just got home,” Mercy pouted. “It seems like you’re always running off.” She pointed at Darlington. “Don’t let her do too much work, okay?”</p><p>He nodded. “I’ll do my best.”</p><p>“Good to see you.” Mercy’s smile was broad and her eyes began to take on a flirtatious sheen.</p><p>“Okay, off we go,” Alex exclaimed, practically shoving Darlington and Mercy out the door.</p><p>“Lauren! Terry! Look who’s here,” Mercy called out as Alex grabbed her coat.</p><p>Lauren gave a mock gasp and threw her hand to her chest in a dramatic motion. “Darlington! As I live and breathe. We thought we’d never see you again. Darlington, this is Terry. Terry, this is Alex’s cousin we’ve told you so much about.”</p><p>“And what you said was not exaggerated,” Terry said with wide eyes before turning pink as Darlington swung his attention towards the other man.</p><p>“Time to go,” Alex insisted as she hurried Darlington out and shut the door behind them. She cringed slightly as Terry and Lauren began talking loud enough to be heard in the hallway. </p><p>“Oh my god, he’s…he’s…”</p><p>“I told you!”</p><p>“Lord almighty.”</p><p>Alex swiveled around towards the stairs, making eye contact with an amused Darlington as she turned. </p><p>“Charming as always, your roommates,” he said.</p><p>“They’re embarrassing as fuck, you mean,” she said, but she couldn’t hold in a laugh as she overheard some delighted shrieking coming from the other side of the door. Who knew what they were up to now, but they made her happy in a way that few things in her life ever had besides Hellie.</p><p>Alex took the first few steps down the stairs. “Ready to find out whatever is really going on?”</p><p>“Quite ready.”</p><p>“Then let’s do this,” she said as they descended the steps and walked into the night. Alex felt like allies surrounded her on all sides for once, and that there was nothing and nobody who could stop her. The feeling was such a foreign one that she almost checked herself but instead let the feeling unfurl in her center. They could handle whatever was to come. She had faith for once, even though a small inner voice said that now that she’d gained so much, it simply meant she had that much more to lose.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The photograph at the Yale Art Gallery that Alex is so interested in is by Robert Frank and can be found here if you're curious what it looks like: https://artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/97156 (wish I could get a link to work in html, but it's fighting me.)</p><p>Thanks as always for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A light misting of rain coated the streets and the sidewalk with drops that glistened like jewels in the streetlights. Alex felt confidence fill her as she walked next to Darlington’s side—a demon and a Wheelwalker out and about, ready to take on the world. The rush of being able to grasp his hand in hers and have it already feel like the most natural thing in the world was stronger than she’d anticipated. Dawes would probably be horrified. Then again, Dawes would just have to learn to deal with the unexpected--or not so unexpected--change in their relationship status.</p>
<p>Turning down College Street, the two walked past the Music building and a range of campus shops including one selling coffee. Darlington raised his chin in the direction of the side street.</p>
<p>“Coffee afterwards?” he asked.</p>
<p>She couldn’t hold in a smile at the ease of the moment. “Sure. If we aren’t immediately saving the Societies’ asses tonight, that is.” She glanced sidelong at him. “You seem to be settling back into non-hell pretty easily.”</p>
<p>“I’m trying my best,” he admitted, squeezing her hand. </p>
<p>“It shows.”</p>
<p>Alex knew it could all be an act, but it was so hard not to <i>want</i> him to be back to normal. They had an obvious physical connection, but it was becoming harder and harder not to have an emotional one as well. She tried to remind herself that things were moving very fast. As if to prove to herself that she could, she pulled her hand out of his and faced the SSS building that loomed before them.</p>
<p>She could feel Darlington’s curious look at her obvious step backwards from physical contact, but he didn’t say anything about it. Thank god he wasn’t the clingy type, she decided. It seemed as if she’d been the one making up for that over the past few days. Perhaps a little distance would be best.</p>
<p>SSS’s massive tower rose ever higher as they approached it. As it hovered over them, the building reminded Alex of a Disney cartoon she’d seen as a kid where a demon perched over a city before summoning souls to it. She glanced sideways at Darlington as the memory filled her mind. It seemed a little too apt for her situation. He opened the arched double-door, holding it for her. Alex nodded her thanks, still a little wary of him for the time being.</p>
<p>No sounds came from the hall where the Yale Social movies usually played on Thursday nights, so there was no need to be terribly subtle as they approached the entrance to the operating theater. Someone whom Alex assumed was a Bonesman seemed to be standing guard outside. The blonde man was much older than any undergrad she’d ever seen, and his coat was much fancier as well. It made her wonder what she and Darlington were about to walk into. Nothing from the text earlier that night had led her to believe they’d be talking to anyone but the usual group of Skull &amp; Bones delegates.</p>
<p>A woman with curling red hair walked towards them as they entered the theater. Alex recognized her as the Haruspex from earlier in the week. She held out her hand and Alex took it, shaking it firmly. “Ms. Stern, Mr. Arlington. I’m Dr. Stevenson, and I’ll be representing Skull &amp; Bones tonight as the ranking Board member. Please, come this way.</p>
<p>Darlington and Alex exchanged a look, but they followed as requested. The Board was a whole other kettle of fish as far as she was concerned. A hint of unease unfurled in her stomach that had nothing to do with her concerns over Darlington.</p>
<p>Stevenson led them to the front of the theater where an array of men and women either stood or were seated in chairs set up around the operating stage. It looked a little like a fancier version of an AA meeting to Alex. Their conversation remained a low hum, and she couldn’t quite catch what they said. There was no need to hear the details, though. It was easy to tell from the tone and their facial expressions that they were scared. And wasn’t that interesting, she thought.</p>
<p>Stevenson led them to an older man whose sharp gaze made him stand out amongst the crowd. On seeing them approach, he ran a hand through his thinning brown hair. The tell gave away his own nervousness, and Alex felt herself relax in response. They needed something from her, and perhaps it was something they would be willing to compensate her for in some way. She intended to bargain hard for whatever it was and to collect whenever the time came.</p>
<p>The man nodded to Stevenson. “Missy,” he said affably before turning to Alex and Darlington. “I’m Andrew Leahy. I’ll be representing Book &amp; Snake tonight. Come sit.” He gestured to two empty chairs waiting in the circle then clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the others. “The other Lethe delegates have arrived,” he announced. “We are ready to begin.”</p>
<p>There was a third chair up on that stage next to the two reserved for her and Darlington, and she was horrified to see Dean Cartwright break away from a group of people to go take a seat. When Alex and Darlington approached, the Dean did a subtle double-take at the sight of Darlington. She must have been expecting their mild-mannered Oculus. No such luck.</p>
<p>Alex almost groaned. If only she’d gone by herself to this meeting, then Cartwright might not have even known about Darlington for a little while longer—at least for what Dawes clearly thought of as his trial period. Not that it made much difference, she supposed. He was here for good if she had anything to say about it. If he didn’t mess it up somehow, anyway.</p>
<p>“Ms. Stern,” Cartwright greeted her as Alex sat beside her gingerly. “It seems you have a great deal to explain about where you’ve been and what exactly you’ve been doing over the past few weeks.”</p>
<p>“Sure. I can explain. Just not right now,” Alex pointed out, gesturing to the assembled Board members. Cartwright’s eyes narrowed with a flash of irritation. Alex felt a corresponding flash of satisfaction at the sight. </p>
<p>Darlington took a seat beside her. That seemed to be the cue to begin along with Stevenson and Leahy taking their own seats. Just like at an AA meeting, each person in the circle went down the row giving their names and designations for what Houses of the Veil they were there to speak on behalf of. Alex couldn’t help but wonder when they got to Manuscript if it was the same person who had been Lan Caihe on the infamous night of the Manuscript party. If so, she’d have to catch them in an alley later and kick their ass.</p>
<p>Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the two representatives from the most powerful Societies who took the lead. Stevenson spoke first. </p>
<p>“You all know why we’re here. The disruptions have become more than is acceptable. We need a long-term solution.”</p>
<p>Alex wondered what the woman meant by “disruptions”. It didn’t seem like the right moment to ask, though.</p>
<p>“We’ve invited the delegates from Lethe House to speak.” Stevenson’s expression turned severe. “Mr. Arlington, Ms. Stern, we have questions for you.” </p>
<p>Alex leaned back in her chair in response to the tone of voice and kicked her legs out, crossing them at the ankle. If the Societies wanted her to feel intimidated, as she suspected they did, then they were very much out of luck. That was what she intended to show them, anyway. What she truly felt was a mixture of curiosity and anxiety.</p>
<p>Leahy rounded on her without ceremony. “What do you know about Lavinia Bingham-Holmes?”</p>
<p>“Other than that she’s my scholarship donor? Not much.” Alex decided they didn’t need to know that Vinia had propositioned her to get information on the Societies.</p>
<p>“She’s far more than that. We know you’ve met with her. Has she tried to make a deal with you?”</p>
<p>Alex frowned. “So you’ve been spying on me, then?”</p>
<p>“We’ve been monitoring the situation.”</p>
<p>“Fine. I visited her house and she mentioned her family’s old Acacia Fraternity connection and that she wants something.”</p>
<p>The Society leaders exchanged glances. “Did she say what it was she wanted?” one put in.</p>
<p>“A rock.”</p>
<p>“A rock,” Leahy repeated with a flat expression.</p>
<p>“A magical rock. That’s all she told me except that Bingham Three brought it back with him from Peru.”</p>
<p>“The amulet,” the Manuscript representative murmured to St. Elmo.</p>
<p>“So it’s an amulet she wants?” Alex asked, and everyone in the room promptly shut up. “Look, you’re going to have to tell me something about what’s going on if you want Lethe’s help.”</p>
<p>“Mr. Arlington,” Stevenson turned towards Darlington in an apparent attempt to deal with him instead. “As Virgil, you would be the representative we would prefer to speak with.”</p>
<p>“That’s too bad,” Darlington said with a humorless smile. “My Dante is the one ‘running the show right now,’ as she would put it.”</p>
<p>The older woman huffed, but she turned her attention back to Alex. “Very well. We can tell you some of what took place in the past with Acacia Fraternity––as much as we know, that is. Most information on that period has been stripped from the records.”</p>
<p>“Why is that? And somebody must know something,” Alex insisted.</p>
<p>“You will understand once you hear the details.” Stevenson paused. “At one time, Acacia was one of the most powerful of the Houses of the Veil. They were the ‘Weavers’ to our Bonesmen who turned events to their benefit and those of the other Societies.”</p>
<p>Alex frowned. “I know. It’s one of the few things I could find about them along with something about hallucinogens.”</p>
<p>“Their rituals were a bit more hedonistic for the time than those of the other groups. They used hallucinogens in a similar sense to Manuscript and could manipulate words in a similar sense to Aurelian, although both of those Societies came later. Acacia worked primarily in the magic of song. The head of their house was the Orpheus, and their spells were quite potent in influencing and shifting the mental states of those they worked their magic on.”</p>
<p>“They changed people’s minds, then?” Alex asked doubtfully.</p>
<p>“Exactly. A powerful tool in the hands of the Societies for everything from politics to financial markets and everything in between.”</p>
<p>“So where did it go wrong? Because clearly something went wrong.”</p>
<p>Stevenson and Leahy exchanged glances.</p>
<p>Leahy spoke this time, and his voice was careful. “There have always been those who have believed the powers surrounding the Veil could be…better exploited in other ways than through a nexus.”</p>
<p>Alex blinked. “Better than a nexus? What else would you possibly use besides that?” She glanced Darlington’s way, but his face had shuttered and she couldn’t read it. Something told her he already had a sense of what Leahy was going to say, and she wouldn’t like whatever it was.</p>
<p>Stevenson went on as if Alex hadn’t spoken at all. “As you know, Hiram Bingham III helped to form Lethe the better to reign in the more unruly Societies. He worked within the lines established by the Societies. His son, Ms. Bingham-Holmes’ grandfather, did not possess the same moral compass.”</p>
<p>Alex felt like tapping her foot. “Quit beating around the bush. What is better than a nexus?”</p>
<p>“Demons,” Darlington broke in softly.</p>
<p>Alex blinked. “Demons?”</p>
<p>Leahy looked uncomfortable. “Yes. We’ve always known there was the possibility of harnessing demonic energies from the other side of the Veil. It is strictly forbidden, of course. More than forbidden—anathema to us. Wilfred Bingham, however, arrived at Yale in 1914 a freshman with an innate talent for demonic possession and summoning. Acacia accepted him as a legacy, and he used his substantial charisma to turn the Fraternity towards something bigger than the Societies.</p>
<p>“What kind of power was he hoping to get from a demon?” Alex asked.</p>
<p>“He planned to do spells without a tomb using demonic energies alone.” Leahy looked nervous to even be talking about the subject. “The potential for such a thing exists everywhere around New Haven. The entire town could become a conduit to manipulate such energies. It would have completely upset the balance among the Societies.”</p>
<p>“I’m guessing that didn’t go over well.”</p>
<p>“It went unnoticed, to be honest. Most people were distracted with the outbreak of World War I, so the Societies were primarily concerned with their own spells and prognostications. Acacia and its activities flew under the radar.”</p>
<p>Alex considered this. “So what stopped the world from being overrun by Acacia?”</p>
<p>“You did,” Stevenson broke in. "Or rather, Harmony Parsons from Lethe did. He kept an eye on Wilfred Bingham, whom he apparently never trusted and encouraged his Dante, Alexander Majors, to keep an eye on the Fraternity’s activities as well.”</p>
<p>“Yes,” Leahy added. “Apparently, Hiram Bingham III provided Lethe with several artifacts that included an amulet capable of channeling demonic forces. Wilfred Bingham tried to take the amulet from Lethe, and Parsons and Majors fought him off. We’ll never know the details of how they succeeded, but the few records that remain related that the sky lit up like day and the force of a blast on campus almost leveled a lecture hall. It was written off as a chemistry experiment gone bad, of course.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Alex said sarcastically. She wondered which of their artifacts and tools from the Armory could have done something like that. She had faith in Dawes and Darlington to know if such things still existed or not.</p>
<p>“With the amulet, Acacia could have overtaken anything in their path,” Leahy continued. “The other Houses of the Veil wouldn’t have stood a chance against them. When it came to light what Wilfred Bingham had done or had tried to do, the Societies came together like they never had before.”</p>
<p> “I’m guessing it was more than a slap on the wrist for trying to take over the world,” Alex said with a mirthless smile. It was hard not to keep her anger from burning bright over so little being done to punish the Societies after the events of the previous year.</p>
<p>Stevenson’s mouth tightened. “Wilfred Bingham was quickly dispatched once he’d been rounded up by the Lethe delegates.”</p>
<p>Alex blinked. “You mean he was murdered.”</p>
<p>“Precisely. Acacia couldn’t be allowed to continue, either. They were stripped of their tomb, and the building was demolished and rebuilt into a dormitory. Aurelian was still fairly new at that point, but all rituals involving logomancy shifted to them. All mention of demonic summoning and Acacia were expunged from the records of all Societies, and the rest was forgotten to history.”</p>
<p>Alex frowned. “So that was then. What about now? Vinia said she wants the amulet her grandfather tried to steal from Lethe. Where is it?” she turned to Darlington, who had been awfully quiet with all the talk of demons and controlling demons. She couldn’t particularly blame him for that. “Do we have it at Lethe?”</p>
<p>He shook his head. “No. We have the Crucible and other smaller items from Peru, but nothing like that.”</p>
<p>“If this was all kept so hush hush, how do you all know about it, anyway?” Alex asked the Board members.</p>
<p>Leahy smiled humorlessly. “Book &amp; Snake performed a ritual this evening to call on our past president from that era using his bones, which luckily were available. We persuaded him to speak.”</p>
<p>“You forced him to cough up what happened. Got it. Wasn’t Wilfred a little young to have had Vinia’s father?”</p>
<p>“Apparently, he impregnated a maid. The Bingham family adopted the child after Wilfred’s early demise.”</p>
<p>Alex grimaced. “Sounds like a stellar guy all around. I take it that Vinia wants to pick up where her grandfather left off if what we’ve seen so far is what we have to go off of.”</p>
<p>“Based on our interactions with her, she does seem to prioritize power and money,” Stevenson sniffed.</p>
<p>“You don’t think revenge plays into it too?” Alex pushed. “She seemed pretty pissed when I talked to her about the Societies.”</p>
<p>Leahy shifted in his seat. “She has threatened various unspeakable things if we were to stand against her.”</p>
<p>“So she figured out what her grandfather’s legacy was and that she also has a talent for demons. Great.” Alex couldn’t help but remember Darlington’s eyes flashing to black and not knowing what exactly Vinia had done or said to him outside of her house. That couldn’t be good.</p>
<p>“The amulet,” she continued. “I’m guessing we need to track it down before she does.”</p>
<p>“Indeed,” Leahy nodded. “Should she find it and take control of whatever forces are available to her from the demonic plane, the results would be catastrophic. And that’s assuming she could actually control whatever she decided to unleash onto the world.”</p>
<p>Grosvenor’s words popped into her head from earlier. <i>They never had control. Not really.</i> She had thought it applied only to her after binding herself to Darlington, but perhaps Vinia was about to make a similar mistake if she hadn’t already.</p>
<p>“I guess I’ll ask again, then,” she said “Where is it?”</p>
<p>Leahy looked shifty but opened his mouth to say, “Our past president revealed that he hid it where nobody would think of looking. He hid it in plain sight in Wilfred Bingham’s tomb.”</p>
<p>“Does that mean I have to go on a road trip to wherever the Bingham family dumps all their relatives?”</p>
<p>Darlington shook his head and finally offered up some information. “Wilfred Bingham’s grave is in the Old Cemetery near campus. Or rather, his cenotaph is there.”</p>
<p>“His what?” Alex frowned.</p>
<p>“A cenotaph is a secondary memorial gravesite to someone buried elsewhere. The actual body is with the rest of the Bingham family closer to their estate outside of New Haven.” </p>
<p>Stevenson broke in, “Apparently, Bingham III wanted a reminder overlooking the campus of what could have happened to Yale without Lethe, although more likely it was to be a reminder of what the Societies had done in eliminating his son.”</p>
<p>Alex smirked. “Petty guilt trip. I like it.” She turned to face the Society members as a whole. “Well, you know where the amulet is. Good luck with it. Call me if you need anything. Or, y’know. Don’t.”</p>
<p>Leahy shook his head. “We can’t get it. The amulet and the tomb itself is powerfully spelled against anyone but a member of Lethe retrieving it. We don’t have the strength to do it without you. That’s why we called you.”</p>
<p>Alex looked up at the ceiling as she tried to keep from cursing loud and long. “It sounds like Darlington and I are being volunteered for a little grave robbing.”</p>
<p>“You’ll do it, then?” Stevenson asked.</p>
<p>Alex looked over at Darlington who gave a small nod.</p>
<p>“Sounds like we don’t have much of a choice,” Alex said grimly. She paused. “Is there any reason you can’t just take out Vinia directly? Can’t you just send a <i>gluma</i> after her? I have some experience with one of those, and it wasn’t pretty. Shouldn’t that do the trick?”</p>
<p>Leahy looked very tired all of a sudden. “We tried sending several. They all appear to have been eaten or something worse happened to them. Only scraps returned or nothing at all when we called them home.”</p>
<p>“You called us because you’re out of options, then,” Alex said, and it was hard not to rub her hands together in glee that they would absolutely be beholden to her if she could just pull this adventure off. </p>
<p>Stevenson nodded. “Time is of the essence. Several of our numbers have inexplicably been struck down with various illnesses that seem to have no cure. We’ve spread it around that there was an outbreak of Encephalitis or some other disease. She seems to intend to pick us off one by one until we give in and tell her where the amulet is hidden.”</p>
<p>“I guess we’d better hurry, then,” Alex sighed. She turned to Darlington. “You up for this?”</p>
<p>He nodded. “Where you go, I go.”</p>
<p>“Then you’ll do what we ask,” Stevenson said with satisfaction. “You’ll get the amulet and bring it back here to us.”</p>
<p>“Not so fast.” Alex broke in. ”What will you be doing for us in exchange?”</p>
<p>The delegates blinked and murmured amongst themselves. Stevenson’s and Leahy’s looks were none too friendly now.</p>
<p>“What did you have in mind, Ms. Stern, if saving New Haven and possibly the rest of humanity isn’t enough for you?” Stevenson asked dryly.</p>
<p>Alex pushed to her feet and Darlington followed her. “I’ll let you know once I think of something,” she said airily.</p>
<p>The delegates murmured even louder, and Stevenson’s expression could have cut glass. Leahy didn’t look much happier. </p>
<p>Cartwright took that moment to step in. “Lethe House will be happy to assist in any way possible.” She glanced at Alex. “<i>Without</i> any need for recompense.”</p>
<p>Alex was about to protest, but Darlington brushed the back of his hand against hers as if asking her to wait. She snapped her mouth shut in response to his warning despite herself. </p>
<p>“We are very glad to hear it, Mary,” Leahy broke in with a tense smile. “You know how to contact us once you’ve acquired the artifact.”</p>
<p>Cartwright nodded. “I’ll let you know as soon as they’ve retrieved it.”</p>
<p>“Excellent,” Stevenson said, shaking Cartwright’s hand as Alex did her best not to roll her eyes at their chumminess. The delegates dispersed, probably to fancy cars where they would be driven to fancy dinners and homes. Cartwright waited until the room had emptied to turn on Alex and Darlington.</p>
<p>“How dare you speak to the Society board members in such a way, Ms. Stern? They are not only our funders, but they are also your superiors. There will be no more bargaining with them, and you will go fetch the amulet immediately. Once you do, I expect to be notified and to have it in my possession forthwith. Is that understood?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I understand—” Alex began, about to launch into a tirade against the high-handed attitudes of all of those assembled, but Darlington broke in with a charming smile.</p>
<p>“Of course we’ll let you know as soon as we have the item. Lavinia Bingham-Holmes can’t be allowed to get hold of it. There are no arguments on that score.”</p>
<p>Cartwright looked mollified as Darlington spun his usual spell over anyone with a pulse. “Very well. Thank you, Mr. Arlington. Call my cell phone when you’ve collected the amulet and have it in hand.” She gave him a long stare. “After that, we’ll talk about your reappearance and where exactly you’ve been. My predecessor was under the impression you were gone for good.”</p>
<p>“Pocket dimension,” Darlington offered.</p>
<p>“Ah. Quite.”</p>
<p>Alex ground her teeth as they chatted briefly, but she kept her silence as Cartwright walked away.  Once the clacking of the Dean’s heels on the wooden boards of the operating theater were out of earshot, she jabbed Darlington in the arm and demanded, “What the hell, Darlington? Couldn’t you have backed me up there? Or you could have at least stayed out of it.”</p>
<p>“Better that we discuss it later,” he murmured as he gestured to the exit.</p>
<p>Alex huffed and stalked out, feeling his presence behind her as if they had a tether drawn tight between them. For the first time in a while, she tried to sever that connection, but it resisted her efforts. She finally gave up and walked faster as if putting physical space between them would somehow make her feel more in control of their relationship and of the coming events looming in front of them.</p>
<p>When she finally slowed down, his long-legged stride caught up to her almost immediately. He slowed his pace to match hers, letting his shoulder bump against her own.</p>
<p>“Would you like to stop for that coffee?” he asked as if everything was perfectly normal about the situation and that everything was perfectly normal between the two of them.</p>
<p>“Do we have time for that? Shouldn’t we be fetching that amulet like we're dogs fetching a tennis ball?” Alex groused, still irritated.</p>
<p>He raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want to face whatever the rest of this night holds without caffeine?”</p>
<p>“Good point,” she muttered. “But you’re buying.”</p>
<p>Darlington nodded. After a moment, Alex pulled out her phone and punched the entry for Dawes’ contact number. It rang and Dawes answered with her usual distracted tone a moment later. “Yes?”</p>
<p>“It’s me, Dawes. We just talked to the entire fucking Board, and now we have a job to do. We’re supposed to go find an amulet that controls demons. Bingham III brought it back from Machu Picchu with the Crucible. Can you look up anything you can find on that and on the Acacia Fraternity?”</p>
<p>There was a long pause on Dawes’ end of the line. “Is that what we’re dealing with, then? Demonic energy?”</p>
<p>“Sounds like it. Or at least that’s what Vinia was probably channeling to take out Michelle.”</p>
<p>“Your donor is the one behind all this?” Dawes exclaimed, and Alex winced. She’d been so distracted with Darlington that she hadn’t called Dawes like she’d planned on. If she didn’t share things with her Oculus, then Dawes probably wouldn’t have all of the background she probably needed to do her end of the job.</p>
<p>“Yeah. It’s been a long night. We’re off to go break into the tomb that belongs to Bingham III’s kid right now. That’s where the amulet’s supposed to be.”</p>
<p>“You’re what?!”</p>
<p>“You heard me,” Alex sighed. “We’ll be back to the house later tonight to go over everything we know and what happens next.”</p>
<p>“Okay. I’m going to run out to feed Cosmo and also grab a book from my dorm, but I should be back by the time you both get back here.”</p>
<p>“Sounds good. Be careful, Dawes. Keep your <i>garde</i> on you.”</p>
<p>“I will. You too. How’s Darlington been? Showing any warning signs?”</p>
<p>Alex glanced his way, but the mild expression on his face meant he either hadn’t overheard with demon-enhanced hearing or that he thought his behavior had been exemplary.</p>
<p>“No. He’s…uh….great.” Alex couldn’t help but blush at the memory of just how “great” he was at what they had done together in the maze and in her dorm room.</p>
<p>“Really,” Dawes said, the suspicion apparent in her voice.</p>
<p>“Really really.”</p>
<p>“Alright. I’ll let you go, then. I’m going to get started seeing what I can find.”</p>
<p>“You won’t find much on Acacia. The Societies wiped all the records, but I’m hoping they’ll have missed something important.”</p>
<p>“I’m on it. Good luck.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. You too.” With that, Alex hung up and turned to Darlington. “Dawes is on it. I’m thinking we could use some help with our end of this.”</p>
<p>Darlington tilted his head to look at her with obvious curiosity. “What did you have in mind?”</p>
<p>“To get this amulet, we’re going to need a professional to show us the ropes.”</p>
<p>“A professional what?”</p>
<p>“A professional grave robber. Luckily we both know exactly where to find one.”</p>
<p>Darlington nodded. “Would you like to call Simms or should I?”</p>
<p>“This seems like a good in-person conversation,” Alex said carefully.</p>
<p>“Perhaps that is best.” He looked away. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of the opportunity to see him again.”</p>
<p>Alex gaped at him. “Are you jealous, Darlington?” she demanded.</p>
<p>“I am not jealous,” he said, obviously ruffled. “I was simply pointing out that you had both been getting to know each other rather well. Hopefully you can use that friendship to good advantage and he’ll be more than willing to assist us.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. Hopefully.” She wrapped her arm through his, causing him to glance down at the point of contact. If it felt half as good to him as it did to her, then it should soothe him. Although why she cared so much about Darlington’s feelings was something she didn’t want to examine too closely. “Come on,” she said instead. “Let’s go get that coffee.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yikes - a week late, but here it is! (The semester is wrapping up and things are a little hectic). Back on schedule for posting every week, though. Thanks as always for reading :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Alex and Darlington walked down the street in the cool air, she realized she was eager to see Simms again. Remembering his crinkling brown eyes and easy way about him reminded her of how she’d felt she could leave all of this behind: Yale, Lethe, everything. She could just live like a normal human being instead of one who was objectively making terrible decisions at any given moment. </p>
<p>Glancing at Darlington who walked by her side also reminded her that here was the one she’d risked her life for and was now bound to in what was essentially an unholy pact for possibly the rest of her life. It made her wonder whether or not she’d made the right choice. Maybe there wasn’t a right or a wrong choice, and maybe it was more complex than that, but it did seem like she’d possibly chosen the harder route.</p>
<p>Would Simms be as excited to see her as she was to see him? she wondered. The odds were not good on that score. She felt her insides squirm as she thought again about how he probably assumed she’d ghosted him. It wasn’t exactly what had happened, but it hadn’t <i>not</i> happened either. Alex had said she would call him and then she hadn’t. From his perspective it would be as simple as that. It seemed like a terrible idea to tell him that she hadn’t really ignored him, she’d just been in hell rescuing the guy she was in some kind of physical relationship with both in her head and now in person. Maybe she could somehow convince him that it would be worth it to help her, and that in doing so he would not only be saving the campus, but would also be saving the rest of New Haven and maybe reality itself at the same time.</p>
<p>Darlington broke her out of her circling thoughts. “What are you thinking about?”</p>
<p>Alex looked up from the street but didn’t make eye contact. “You know. Just trying to figure out how to go about getting ahold of this amulet thing.”</p>
<p>“Have you thought beyond getting it to what to do with it once you have it in hand?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” Alex frowned. “I thought you wanted to give it to Cartwright. Isn’t that what you said we’d do?”</p>
<p>He snorted. “Hardly. You know we can’t give it to the Societies. They could never be trusted with something so powerful. There’s a reason the earlier incarnation of the Societies decided to hide the thing. I’m surprised they didn’t outright destroy it.”</p>
<p>“Maybe they couldn’t.” Alex chanced a glance at his face. “Anyway, what would we do with it?”</p>
<p>Darlington looked straight ahead of him, his face serious. “We’d keep it.”</p>
<p>It was Alex’s turn to snort. “What the hell would we do with it?”</p>
<p>He was silent for a little longer than she was comfortable before answering, “Wouldn’t it be better in the hands of those who wouldn’t use it to the kinds of ends the Societies would use it for? Do you honestly trust them not to abuse that kind of power if they could?”</p>
<p>She shook her head. “No, I don’t. Still, as much as I’d love to stick it to the Societies, I don’t know how we’d ever keep it safe, either.” Glancing at him sidelong, she couldn’t help but point out, “You don’t seem like an impartial party in this plan.”</p>
<p>“I’m not. The last thing I want is something that could control me to be in the hands of the Board. If they were to discover what I am, it would be disastrous to say the least.” He turned to her suddenly. “Free me and give me charge of it. Or free me and take charge of it yourself to contain me. You could do many things with it or nothing, whatever you wished.”</p>
<p>Alex barked a laugh. “Because I of all people would want to be the hero with the responsibility of the magical doodad? And no offense, Darlington, but the last thing we need is for you to run amok doing whatever it is you damn well please with it. Who’s to say you wouldn’t just destroy everything yourself if you had it?”</p>
<p>Darlington frowned. “If it sways you, then I must say I am much more intrigued to find out what it is like to live in this world than to destroy it.”</p>
<p>“That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement to give you back your power or your freedom.”</p>
<p>“As I said before, I want us to be on an equal footing. How are we to be in a relationship if you don’t trust me?”</p>
<p>“You think this is a relationship?” she scoffed. “Hardly. We’ve made out like five times, not exchanged vows.” She paused. “And like <i>I</i> said before, I’m not giving you your power back. We’re on about as equal footing as we can get with you being what you are now. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you aren’t hurting at only ten percent of your power.”</p>
<p>Darlington was silent, and Alex could practically feel the anger and frustration vibrating off of him.</p>
<p>She sighed. “If it helps, I appreciate that you seem to be trying to get back into the groove of your old self. Just give it time. You only just got back. How am I supposed to trust you if you keep pushing me like this.”</p>
<p>The silence from beside her was more thoughtful this time. As if mollified, Darlington nodded and said, “Very well. I will be more patient. It is not something that comes easily to me now, but I’ll wait if it will somehow prove myself to you.”</p>
<p>Alex felt a surge of satisfaction that he was actually listening to her. It was a heady thing to hold the power in their relationship. She hoped she wouldn’t do anything to abuse it. <br/>They turned down the side street to approach Blue State Coffee. Alex glanced farther down the street past Darlington and just caught the profile of a very familiar face in her field of vision.</p>
<p>North. He must be trying to get her attention without getting in Darlington’s way. She sighed inwardly and turned to Darlington. “I’m going to stay out here for some fresh air. Would you mind running in to get the coffee?”</p>
<p>His look said that he didn’t believe her for a moment. Since when had Alex Stern ever wanted fresh air? Nevertheless, he nodded and entered the shop, leaving her to her own devices.</p>
<p>North appeared in front of her a moment later, making her jerk backwards at the shift in the space between them. He was practically on top of her as if in an incredible hurry, which he probably was since he wanted to miss running into Darlington.</p>
<p>“Jesus, North. Watch it,” Alex snapped.</p>
<p>He didn’t seem to register her irritation in his haste. “I only have a moment. Thank you for waiting.”</p>
<p>“What is it? Darlington will be back in a second.”</p>
<p>“I wanted to assure myself you were well and to reiterate my request.”</p>
<p>“I’m fine.” Alex frowned. “And I’m guessing you mean you want me to boot Darlington back to hell.”</p>
<p>“That is it exactly.”</p>
<p>Alex crossed her arms. “Well, too bad. He’s fine—chomping at the bit a little about the loss of power, but nothing to worry about.”</p>
<p>North stared at her. “Nothing to worry about?” he repeated in a shocked tone. “Ms. Stern, that thing is wearing your friend’s face and is probably lying in wait to consume your soul and the souls of everyone else on this planet both alive and dead. Why, for all that is holy, do you think you can trust him?”</p>
<p>She frowned. “I can’t explain. It just seems like him. Besides, it’s not like I’m letting him off the leash yet.”</p>
<p>“Yet?” North exclaimed, obviously horrified.</p>
<p>“Yet,” she said firmly. “He agreed to quit pushing for it, and I keep hearing I need to put more trust in other people––to expand my connections and that kind of thing.”</p>
<p>“I sincerely doubt a demon was what whoever told you that had in mind,” North snapped.</p>
<p>Alex couldn’t keep a smirk off of her face. “Well, maybe I’m figuring out what I really want like everyone’s been pestering me about, and Darlington’s helping with that.”</p>
<p>“Has he at least aided you with Ms. Alameddine or done anything that could remotely be read as something that wasn’t self-serving?”</p>
<p>Her smile fell. “No. There’s another player in the game right now. Vinia Bingham-Holmes. We went to her house—the one with all the wards. Turns out she’s into demons.”</p>
<p>North looked as if he paled. “Is there anything to be done?”</p>
<p>“Yeah. Darlington and I are about to go get some kind of demon energy amulet thing. We’ll figure out what to do with it once we’ve got it.”</p>
<p>“Well, whatever you do, do <i>not</i> allow him access to it. Who knows what a demon would do with such a thing once in its possession.”</p>
<p>“I’m not an idiot, North. Of course I’m not going to give it to him. I’ve got this.”</p>
<p>North shook his head. “You seem to still be laboring under the assumption that you’re in control. I can assure you, Ms. Stern, that you are not. Please think over what I’ve said. If there is anything I can do to help, just call on me. I will be nearby.”</p>
<p>“Not too nearby, I hope.” The thought of North finding out about her and Darlington’s more physical activities made her cringe inwardly. She didn’t know why. It wasn’t like she cared what the Gray thought. Except she did. It was just best if he didn’t know, she decided.</p>
<p>“I will be as close as I can afford to be,” he stated, then jerked his head towards the coffee shop door. “I must go,” he said.</p>
<p>“He’s back, huh?”</p>
<p>“Indeed. Take care, Ms. Stern. I’ll be waiting.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, North. I appreciate it.” Alex was almost surprised to find that she did appreciate it. He was a kind of friend at this point—one she valued.</p>
<p>He vanished just as the door opened and Darlington stood before her with two coffees in hand.</p>
<p>“Long line,” he explained. “Sorry to have kept you waiting.”</p>
<p>“No big deal,” she said, trying not to look guilty in the slightest for talking with North.</p>
<p>“I hope you gave my regards to North,” Darlington said with a small tightening of his mouth. “Trying to convince you to banish me, I presume?”</p>
<p>“Oh, don’t get your panties in a twist. He’s just looking out for me.”</p>
<p>“Have you considered that perhaps I’m looking out for you as well?”</p>
<p>“Somehow that thought hadn’t crossed my mind, no.” Alex nudged him to lighten the atmosphere. “But I’m giving it a chance.”</p>
<p>Darlington nodded. “That’s all I can ask for, I suppose.”</p>
<p>She took a sip of her coffee. “Ready to get this show on the road? Where is the car, anyways?”</p>
<p>“Back at the house.”</p>
<p>Alex frowned. “You walked all the way to my dorm earlier?”</p>
<p>Darlington looked away. “I portaled, actually. It felt good to rely on my powers.”</p>
<p>Her skin prickled at the reminder of what he was, and that it was something that wasn’t human. “Sure. Makes sense,” she said, trying to also remind herself that so far he seemed trustworthy, to a certain extent anyway.</p>
<p>The walk to Il Bastone was a comfortable one as they sipped their coffees. Listening to Darlington talk about his favorite parts of campus proved to be calming, and Alex could share her own favorite places now that she’d been at the university long enough to appreciate some of the buildings. There were plenty of people out and about, and she could almost pretend that they were just two college students out on a walk that had a hint of romance to it. Almost. It was chilly enough that Alex gave a sigh of relief when they climbed into the BMW. Darlington turned the heater on in response, and she sent him a grateful look.</p>
<p>“Such a gentleman,” she teased. “Are you this good with all the ladies?”</p>
<p>“You must know my only interest lies in you,” he said softly, and Alex felt a small thrill go through her. She tried her best to ignore it, though. North was probably right that she shouldn’t encourage him.</p>
<p>By the time they’d turned down the road to Simms’ house, Alex felt relaxed once more around Darlington despite the Gray’s words of warning. He just seemed so innocuous for a demon. It was hard to picture him turning on her as North had warned of. She broke out of her thoughts long enough to notice that the street seemed particularly full. Several cars had been parked along the curb, and Darlington pulled into a spot a fair distance away from the house.</p>
<p>“Looks like Simms is throwing a party,” Darlington commented as they climbed out of the BMW. </p>
<p>A few other people walked up the sidewalk behind them and in front of them. Alex couldn’t help but wonder if she would have been invited along with this crowd had she only been around to respond to his text. That would definitely have felt a lot better than crashing his place like she was doing now. She reminded herself that their mission was more important than being embarrassed.</p>
<p>People surrounded the house in small clumps, talking and laughing as they stood with bottles and cups held easily in their hands while they smoked. A whiff of pot smoke filled Alex’s nose as it floated by on the breeze. The vibe was extremely relaxed, and she wished she was just there paying a social call. A few of the partygoers stood on the steps up to the house. One of them was Simms’ roommate, the girl with short blonde hair. Alex tried to inch past her up the stairs, but the girl broke off her conversation with one of the guests and turned to her.</p>
<p>“Oh. It’s you,” she said, frowning. “I didn’t realize Simms invited you.”</p>
<p>Alex grimaced slightly. “He kind of didn’t.”</p>
<p>“Ballsy. Takes real courage to shit on a guy and then turn up at his party. I admire that, really I do.”</p>
<p>“Just a miscommunication, believe me,” Alex said as she tried to look innocent. It was something she’d never been very good at.</p>
<p>“If you say so,” the blonde said with a short laugh. “You didn’t have to put up with the guy talking about how you were the one who got away.” She looked up at Darlington and gave his immaculate clothes a once-over. “I see you went with greener pastures.”</p>
<p>Alex felt herself blush and had the intense urge to defend herself before she remembered that she didn’t owe this woman anything. “Like I said, it was a miscommunication. I really need to talk to him, though. Can you tell me where he is?”</p>
<p>The blonde blew out some smoke through her pursed lips, and Alex fought the urge to wave it away from her face. This bitch, she thought. It wouldn’t help anything to get into it with Simms’ roommate, though. She needed to find her misplaced charm however far it might be stashed below the surface of her personality.</p>
<p>“It’s definitely worth his while if he talks to us,” Darlington put in.</p>
<p>Blondie rolled her eyes. “Fine. You’re his dealers, right? And it’s a party. Go the fuck on in, I guess.” She jabbed a finger at Alex. “If I have to listen to any moping afterwards, though, I’m tracking you down and kicking your ass.”</p>
<p>Although she was several inches shorter, Alex believed the blonde could do it, too.</p>
<p>“Fine. Thanks,” she muttered as she climbed the rest of the steps and entered the house. More people were taking up space in the living room and in the kitchen. There was no sign of Simms, and Alex really didn’t want to go upstairs and try looking for him in bedrooms.</p>
<p>Darlington tapped her on the shoulder, and she glanced his way. “Outside,” he said.</p>
<p>“You sure?” she asked.</p>
<p>“I can sense the death on him.” He took in Alex’s horrified look and said quickly, “From his job.”</p>
<p>She nodded and made her way to the back door that was propped open. There was a fenced-in yard and a few groups of people standing around talking. Alex caught sight of Ellie the German Shepherd sitting next to one of the groups, and she recognized Simms a moment later. As she made her way towards him, she wracked her brain trying to think of what on earth she could say to get him to leave his party and go raid a cemetery with her. She was drawing a big fat blank on that score. Maybe Darlington would know what to say. She hoped so, anyways.</p>
<p>Sniffing the air and seeing Alex’s motion towards them made Ellie leap to her feet and run towards the pair of them. She barked excitedly as if eager to meet new people, and she ignored Simms’ calls for her to stop. The puppy’s ears were as perked as they could get. Alex smiled, but her smile fell as the dog galumphed forward before skidding to a halt at the sight of Darlington and turning tail with a whimper. She hid behind her owner as he came forward to greet them. Alex wasn’t too sure that Simms wasn’t about to throw them out on sight, but at least she could talk to him away from his friends.</p>
<p>Simms stopped in front of them and gave her and Darlington a long look.</p>
<p>“Darlington. You’re back,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.</p>
<p>Darlington nodded. “Simms. Good to see you.”</p>
<p>“I haven’t seen you around campus, Alex. I’m guessing you’re both here for a reason. What can I do for you?” he asked. His tone was pleasant, but it had lost the open friendliness it had once had. </p>
<p>“Sorry to interrupt your party,” Alex began. “We could use your help, though.” She paused. “And I’m really sorry I didn’t text you back. Some stuff came up. Really important stuff. I was away for a while.”</p>
<p>Simms shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Not a big deal.” He still didn’t look particularly happy to see her, though, and Alex couldn’t blame him. “What do you need help with?”</p>
<p>Darlington and Alex glanced at each other, but Alex opened her mouth first. “We need to get into the cemetery. There’s something there we have to find.”</p>
<p>Simms frowned. “Is this like a fraternity pledge thing or something? Because I can’t just take you in there to fuck around with stuff.”</p>
<p>“No,” Alex exclaimed. “It’s nothing like that.”</p>
<p>“Then what is it?” he asked, still frowning. </p>
<p>Alex took a big breath and decided to try to explain in the vaguest terms. “There’s something big taking place on campus, and we need to get something held in the cemetery. If we don’t, then bad things will happen to a lot of people.” She cringed at how the words sounded like utter garbage and trailed off at the look of consternation on his face.</p>
<p>“I’m really trying here, Alex, but I don’t understand anything you just said. Explain one more time or the answer is no.”</p>
<p>Alex eyed Darlington, but he merely shrugged. She sighed and gave it another attempt. “We work for a group that watches over all the weird shit that happens on campus. We use the things you collect for us to do that, and now I need something from a grave to make sure a whole lot of people don’t get hurt.”</p>
<p>Simms looked at her for a long moment. “Okay,” he said after a moment. “If you need me to let you into the graveyard, I can do that, I guess.”</p>
<p>“Actually, we need your help with breaking into a tomb.” Alex cringed a little at his appalled expression.</p>
<p>“Jesus Christ, Alex. Dirt and ashes and bits here and there are one thing, but you’re talking about something that could end up with all of us going to jail if we get caught.” He glanced at Darlington. “ All of which would be much worse for me considering who I am than for your friend here considering who he is.”</p>
<p>She shook her head. “I know. I wouldn’t ask this if it wasn’t really, really important. A friend of ours is in the hospital because of all this, and what we’re doing would help them. I know this probably sounds crazy, but we’re talking forces beyond any normal, everyday people here.”</p>
<p>“Are you talking about Ruby Jones kind of weird shit?”</p>
<p>“How do you know Ruby?” Alex asked.</p>
<p>“I know her because I get her the same kind of things I get for you Yale people. I’m not completely ignorant of what all that stuff you want is good for. She’s taken care of me a few times and helped out here and there.”</p>
<p>“This is definitely some Ruby Jones-type shit, yes.”</p>
<p>Simms paused for a long moment. “Ruby’s a good person. If whatever you’re doing will help the people in town, then I’ll take you and show you how to get what you need. If it’s just the university you’re worried about, then forget it.”</p>
<p>“It’s for much more than just the university, believe me,” Alex said fervently.</p>
<p>“Alright, then.” He considered the party around them. “It’s my roommate Danny’s get-together since he just got a new job. I can take off for a little while, I guess. I’ll just tell them I’m going for a drive to get some weed if anyone asks.”</p>
<p>Gesturing to Alex and Darlington, he headed towards a small dog house where he chained Ellie up.</p>
<p>“Sorry, little girl,” Alex overheard him saying to the dog. "We’ll be back before you know it.”</p>
<p>He straightened and led them to a gate that emptied out onto the street then stopped before a faded green truck. It was slightly rusty around the wheel wells, but otherwise it looked in good repair.</p>
<p>“We should take my truck. It will be less conspicuous since they already know me over there.” He looked at them. “I’m sticking my neck out here. Don’t make me regret it.”</p>
<p>“We won’t,” Alex said. Darlington nodded his assent.</p>
<p>Simms climbed into the truck and unlocked the doors. Before Alex could get in, Darlington opened the cab door and gestured for her to climb in before him, offering one hand and laying the other against her lower back. Rather than accept his assistance, she shook him off and launched herself up onto the seat before sending him a look that read, “What the fuck?” Darlington tended to be chivalrous, it was true, but such a touch read as a little bit too friendly.</p>
<p>Simms started the engine and Darlington climbed in to sit beside Alex. It was a tight fit in the truck, and she tried to give Simms his space. That meant she had to scoot closer to Darlington whose shoulder knocked gently against hers. His hand rested next to her on the seat and brushed against the side of her thigh, sending pleasant tingles through her body that she tried to tone down. There was a time and a place for that kind of thing, and to Alex’s dismay it was harder than it should have been to shut off her reaction. </p>
<p>The ride was a silent one, and when Alex opened her mouth to try to interject something into the charged atmosphere, she couldn’t think of anything. Instead, she caught Simms’ glance towards Darlington and his proprietary body language. He seemed to be trying to gauge Alex’s relationship with her Virgil, and Darlington was making it come across as if they were close—very close, at that. </p>
<p>It bothered her in a way she had a hard time defining. It wasn’t like she’d planned to start dating Simms even if he had wanted to, which he probably did according to Mercy and Dawes. Still, she didn’t appreciate Darlington advertising that they were together or whatever somebody would call them at the moment.</p>
<p>Simms pulled the truck into a driveway, and headlights flashed over two gates padlocked together. “This is the back entrance to the cemetery,” he said. “I just need to unlock the gate and we can hurry up with whatever it is you plan to do.”</p>
<p>Once the truck door shut behind him, Alex turned on Darlington.</p>
<p>“Will you stop trying to make it look like we’re dating? You’re not helping here.”</p>
<p>Darlington frowned. “What am I not helping? We’re here where we need to be, aren’t we?” His smile turned slightly predatory. “And if we’re not dating, then we’re definitely doing something.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, well whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish with the whole territorial thing, just quit it. it’s freaking me out, and it seems like you’re trying to stick it to Simms.”</p>
<p>Darlington pulled his shoulder and hand away from her body and leaned as far towards the passenger side window as he could get. “Better?” he asked. </p>
<p>He seemed slightly affronted, and Alex rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”</p>
<p>Simms pulled the door open and took in the pair’s awkward postures. “Am I interrupting anything?”</p>
<p>“No,” Alex assured him. “We’re good, thanks.”</p>
<p>Blessedly, he decided to let it go. “Which tomb do you need access to and do you know where it is?"</p>
<p>Alex shook her head. “All we know is that we need to get into the Bingham tomb.”</p>
<p>“I don’t know how you expect to get into it,” he pointed out. “I don’t have anything strong enough to budge the stone.”</p>
<p>“I’ll take care of the stone,” Darlington said.</p>
<p>“You will?” Alex asked, joining in with Simms to give him a skeptical look.</p>
<p>“It’s not a problem.”</p>
<p>“Okay,” Simms said, drawing the word out. “Then I guess we can get going.”</p>
<p>Alex and Darlington piled out of the truck and followed him down the paved road through the cemetery. Sims held a flashlight allowing them all to see, although Alex was pretty sure Darlington didn’t actually need it. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at a gravesite where a large, rectangular pedestal rose into the air to chin height. A distinctive sun motif had been carved into the center of the stone.</p>
<p>“That’s an Incan sun symbol,” Darlington commented.</p>
<p>“Classy,” Alex said drily. “Looks like he never gave up banking on that Peruvian claim to fame. This doesn’t look like what I’d expected for a tomb, though.”</p>
<p>“The graveyard isn’t that big, so the graves are mostly on the smaller side,” Simms explained. “This is one of the larger cenotaphs. That’s why I knew who you were talking about. Do I even want to know what exactly it is you both are hoping to find in there?”</p>
<p>“An amulet,” Alex said, deciding honesty was the best policy at this point. “It’s supposed to be guarded by spells and who knows what else.”</p>
<p>Simms looked surprised. “No shit? Like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or something?”</p>
<p>“I hope not,” she said before muttering to Darlington, “Is that what this is going to be?”</p>
<p>“Not to my knowledge,” he replied.</p>
<p>“Great.”</p>
<p>“For one thing, that was a stone not an amulet.”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Darlington. Very helpful.”</p>
<p>The three stepped closer to observe the tomb’s lid. The flashlight played over the surface, and Alex reached up tentatively and pushed at the stone.</p>
<p>“Solid. What now, Darlington?”</p>
<p>“Now you turn around, turn the light off, and I open it.”</p>
<p>Simms barked a short laugh. “You’re going to do a magic trick, then?”</p>
<p>“Something like that,” Darlington said with a small smile that had not a trace of humor in it.</p>
<p>“Let’s just do what he says, okay?” Alex suggested, turning around and gesturing for Simms to follow her to a few feet away from the tomb.</p>
<p>As they stood in the darkness, Simms sighed. “I knew you were into some weird stuff, Alex, but not this weird.”</p>
<p>“Well, sometimes you don’t have much of a choice.”</p>
<p>“That’s true, I guess.” He paused. “So you and Darlington, huh?”</p>
<p>Alex blew out a long breath. “Yeah. Kind of. I didn’t mean for it to happen. It just kind of did.”</p>
<p>“Before or after we connected. Or didn’t connect, I guess?”</p>
<p>“I hate to say it, but I’m not entirely sure.” She looked out into the darkness. “If I’m honest, I wish we’d had a chance to get to know each other better. I would have liked hanging out with Ellie like we planned.”</p>
<p>“Yeah. I would have liked that, too.”</p>
<p>A sound like a flock of large-winged birds clamored through the air, interrupting them. The smell of ozone burned in Alex’s nose, and it felt like something slithered in the darkness behind her just out of the edges of her perception. She resisted the urge to turn around, and she put a hand on Simms’ arm when he moved to look behind him.</p>
<p>After a moment, the night returned to stillness and Darlington called out quietly, “It’s done.”</p>
<p>Simms switched on the flashlight as if he didn’t want to be one more moment in the darkness with either one of them and turned to look. His silence said more than any curse could have. Alex turned and looked at the monument. Its massive lid rested against the ground.</p>
<p>“I’m not going to ask,” Simms said very calmly, and stood far enough back that he only just played the flashlight beam over the inside of the cenotaph. “Can you get what you came for so we can go?”</p>
<p>Alex stepped up to the edge of the pedestal and looked within the stone container. Just as had been advertised, there was nothing inside except for a wooden box.</p>
<p>“So, uh, is this the part where I reach in there and pull it out?”</p>
<p>“Since I’m no longer officially part of Lethe, that would be for the best,” Darlington murmured.</p>
<p>“Fine,” Alex muttered as she took a deep breath that she immediately regretted when the dust almost made her sneeze. Reaching inside, she gingerly picked up the box. A static charge went through her hands and up her arms and she almost dropped it, but the pins and needles sensation disappeared a moment later. Relief swept through her as she realized she wasn’t about to be struck by lightning or something equally dramatic.</p>
<p>The box wasn’t as heavy as she’d feared it would be, and she lifted it into the air and over the side of the stone ledge. Once in the light of the flashlight beam, she could see it was covered with scrolling tracery and sinuous designs.</p>
<p>“Art Nouveau decoration, so the provenance seems accurate,” Darlington commented.</p>
<p>“Well, let’s hope it’s the right one because there wasn’t anything else inside.” Alex said. “There was definitely some kind of spell or something guarding the box, though.”</p>
<p>“That was what you needed?” Simms asked, clearly wanting to leave.</p>
<p>“Yeah. Thanks,” Alex replied. “We owe you one.”</p>
<p>“Don’t worry about it. And don’t mention it—to anybody. Let’s just get out of here.” He hesitated. “If the lid could go back on it, that would make my life a lot easier.”</p>
<p>“Of course,” Darlington said. “I’ll meet you at the truck.”</p>
<p>Simms nodded and turned to go without hesitation. Alex hurried to catch up with him. It was obvious they both were trying not to think of what might be happening behind them back at the tomb. </p>
<p>As they walked, she had a good feeling that this would all be over shortly. They would slay the metaphorical dragon that was Vinia and save Michelle, the damsel in distress. And maybe playing at being a knight would put Darlington even further on solid, human-shaped footing. It was worth a shot, anyway. And what more could they do but try?</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Chapter 17</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Alex and Simms arrived back at the truck without anything interrupting their walk. There definitely wasn’t any kind of friendly talking along the way. When they passed through the gates, he turned to her.</p><p>“I know you don’t really know me, and I don’t really know you, but can I offer you some advice?”</p><p>Alex hesitated but nodded. “Sure.”</p><p>“Okay. Look. I don’t want to tell you how to live your life, but there is obviously something not right about that guy,” he said, gesturing with his chin back towards where Darlington worked at the gravesite. “It doesn’t even seem like the same person I knew from before he went to Spain or wherever he really went to.”</p><p>“He’s a little different since he got back here, that’s for sure,” Alex said carefully.</p><p>“Yeah. I like you, Alex. I do. You seem like you might have a good heart.”</p><p>She almost snorted in response, feeling not nearly so generous with herself since she knew the things she’d done in the past and the things she was willing to do in the future. “Thanks,” she said instead.</p><p>“You seem like you also might be in over your head, though. I’d like to help, but I have to take care of my own shit and my own people, you know? So just be careful, all right?”</p><p>Her heart shifted a little in her chest at the feeling of having someone worry for her even with as many caveats as Simms had just made. </p><p>“I’m being careful, believe me. But I appreciate the thought, Simms. I’m trying to turn over a new leaf and trust people and all that.”</p><p>He shook his head. “Maybe consider not doing that this time.”</p><p>“Yeah. Maybe.”</p><p>Before he could say anything more, Darlington appeared out of the darkness. It was as if the night swam around him in sinuous currents that the flashlight had a hard time penetrating. Simms gave Alex a long look, and she couldn’t help but look away.</p><p>She definitely felt in over her head, but in for a penny in for a pound. That seemed like too many metaphors for a situation that should have just read as “Don’t trust a demon,” but she’d meant it when she said she wanted to try trust.</p><p>The trio climbed into the truck after Simms locked the gates. He started the engine, but Alex held up a hand before he could back away from the driveway to get to the street.</p><p>“Wait. Shouldn’t I check to make sure there’s actually something in this thing to begin with?”</p><p>She set her fingers to the latch at the front of the box. It was like an old-fashioned jewelry case and the hinges creaked slightly as she cracked it open.</p><p>Darlington jerked away from her until he pressed himself to the passenger-side door. “I don’t believe you should—”</p><p>“Oh, relax,” she interrupted as she lifted the lid the rest of the way open. “It didn’t hurt me to take it from the tomb. It should be fine.”</p><p>A hiss filled the cab like a snake rearing back and Alex was sure she’d made a terrible mistake when both the headlights and the engine sputtered suddenly. It made her hesitate, but when she flung the lid backwards, all that lay inside was a stone on a chain. It looked like a dark emerald the size of a chicken’s egg, and the gold setting had a stylized snake carved into it. All in all, it would span her entire hand if she held it.</p><p>“Woah,” she whispered. “That’s some rock.” She realized Darlington was still pressed against the window away from the box. “What is it?” she asked him.</p><p>“It…doesn’t feel good,” he said. “The aura is extremely murky. I wouldn’t suggest touching it unless you absolutely must.”</p><p>Now that Alex noticed it, there was indeed a strange weight to the silence in the cab as if something throbbed silently in the back of her mind.</p><p>“Here,” Simms said, pulling a cloth out of the back seat and handing it to her. “If you need to pick it up, use this.”</p><p>Alex took the cloth from him. “Thanks.” She turned to Darlington. “I’ll hold off on touching it until we’re back at the house.”</p><p>“That would be best,” he said, and the relief in his voice was evident.</p><p>“Do I even want to know what you’re going to do with that thing?” Simms asked as they drove back to his house. As he talked, his fingers gripped the steering wheel hard enough that his knuckles had turned white.</p><p>Alex hesitated. “Probably all you need to know is that it has to do with demons and Yale donors, and it’s hard to tell which of the two is more evil.”</p><p>“That sounds pretty terrible.”</p><p>“Yeah, but we got this. “</p><p>“And how did you get stuck with this job? Couldn’t somebody else handle it?” he asked as if he couldn’t help himself. It charmed Alex that he couldn’t seem to keep from caring.</p><p>She tapped her fingers on the sides of the box. “It’s not exactly all in a day’s work, but there’s nobody else to take care of things. Hence, me and Darlington are on it.”</p><p>They pulled up to Simms’ house, and he let the truck idle for a moment before stopping it. He turned to Alex. “Well, like I said before: be careful.”</p><p>She gave him a small smile, grateful for the fact that he thought she was worth worrying over. “I will be, and thank you again. I can’t even tell you how important this was.”</p><p>“Just stay alive. It sounds like there’s the possibility that might be a problem.”</p><p>“I have Darlington to watch my back.” She hurried on when Simms’ eyes flicked to the demon beside her. “And I’ll let you know how it all turns out if you want.” There was a questioning lilt to her voice. She wasn’t sure if he wanted to ever see her again.</p><p>He paused. “Yeah. I’d like that.”</p><p>Her smile grew broader. “It’s settled, then.”</p><p>Darlington gave a small cough next to her as if clearing his throat. “We should hurry,” he said. “We need to get that to the safety of the house.”</p><p>“Right.” Alex turned away from Simms and followed Darlington, climbing off the seat and dropping to the ground. She appreciated that her Virgil gave her space this time.</p><p>“See you around, Alex. Darlington.” Simms turned away from them and made his way to the gate leading to Ellie and his friends and the normal world. Alex wished for a moment that she could step into that normalcy with him, but an even bigger part of her was curious to see how this would all play out now that they had what they needed.</p><p>She and Darlington walked back to the BMW, the box closed once more and trapped underneath Alex’s arm. Darlington maintained a healthy distance from her. Before she could call the words back, she asked, “Are you being like this because you’re pissed at me about opening the box or are you pissed about me not letting you rub up on my leg back in the truck?”</p><p>He glanced at her. “Does it matter? I agreed when you brought me back to obey you and be bound by you.”</p><p>She felt unaccountably defensive all of a sudden. “Look, I’m just not into PDA, that’s all. Not to mention it was a good idea to make sure that Bingham III didn’t stiff us on the necklace.”</p><p>“Your sudden need for distance has nothing to do with the fact that you thought of going on a date with Simms?”</p><p>Alex scowled then looked at the ground. “Maybe it does. I don’t know. This whole situation confuses me.”</p><p>“Well, I’ll be here waiting when you decide what you would prefer,” Darlington said as they reached the car, and his tone was definitely frosty.</p><p>Alex grumbled something about touchy demons and pulled open the passenger side door.</p><p>“Would you like to call Pammie or should I?” he asked once they were seated inside with the engine running.</p><p>“I’ll do it.”</p><p>Dawes answered on the second ring. “Did you get it?” she asked without preamble.</p><p>“Yeah, we did,” Alex said. It was difficult to keep the triumph out of her voice. “It’s a huge rock, and it’s creepy as fuck, but we got it.”</p><p>“So what now? Do you call Dean Cartwright and give it to her?”</p><p>Alex hesitated. “Undecided.”</p><p>“In what way?” She could hear the frown in Dawes’ voice. “What else would you possibly do with it.”</p><p>“Well, Darlington has some ideas. Like that maybe we should hold onto it for awhile”</p><p>“And <i>that</i> seems like a good plan?” Dawes asked incredulously.</p><p>Alex glanced sideways to see Darlington staring straight ahead as he drove. “I’m willing to hear him out on the subject. We shouldn’t be giving it to the Societies, that’s for sure.”</p><p>“I guess that is a fair point.” Dawes sighed, but paused a moment later. Alex could hear the faint echo of the doorbell ringing in the background.</p><p>“Huh. There’s someone outside,” Dawes said, the suspicion in her voice evident.</p><p>“Well, don’t answer it. It’s probably not Girl Scouts. And if it is, I’ll owe you some cookies later.</p><p>“Wait one second while I just check… Oh! It’s fine.” Alex could hear the front door opening and there was a rustling sound as if Dawes had walked out onto the porch. “Are you here for Alex? She’s just on her—”</p><p>Dawes’ voice cut off abruptly, and a dull clatter sounded over the line a moment later as if she had dropped the phone. The silence that followed rang through loud and clear.</p><p>“Dawes? Dawes!” Alex turned to Darlington and exclaimed, “Something’s not right. Get us to the house.”</p><p>Darlington nodded and slammed on the gas pedal. The BMW’s engine roared in the night. As they neared campus, he began to slow once more almost to a crawl as they neared a stoplight that turned red.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Alex demanded. “Drive!”</p><p>Darlington spoke through gritted teeth. “I am going as quickly as I can so campus police don’t pull us over. We won’t be able to help Pammie if we’re busy getting a ticket.”</p><p>Alex felt her heart racing in her chest. Dawes was all alone, possibly convulsing on the ground. Possibly dead. She didn’t waste a second as Darlington pulled up to the sidewalk just down the street from the house.</p><p>Throwing the car door open, she raced to the gate and slammed back the latch on it. The outline of a body lay on the porch. Alex drew a deep breath, feeling Darlington’s presence behind her.</p><p>She launched herself at Dawes and dropped to the ground. The girl was very pale—even more so than usual—and her eyes were shut tight. Her chest seemed to barely move, but at least it was moving. Alex drew a deep breath.</p><p>“Let’s get her inside,” Darlington said.</p><p>“Should we move her or should I call an ambulance?”</p><p>“An ambulance won’t help her. I can lay a spell over her that will put her in a kind of suspended animation. It’s much the same as what Pammie told me she used on Michelle.”</p><p>Alex nodded. “Do it.”</p><p>“Help me carry her,” he said, and he took Dawes’ shoulders in his hands carefully.</p><p>Alex gathered the girl’s feet, and they maneuvered her past the open door, through the foyer, and into the parlor. Laying her down on the couch, Alex stepped back and stared at her Oculus who looked much younger now than when she was conscious.</p><p>“Did you do whatever you needed to do?” she asked Darlington.</p><p>“One moment,” he said before raising his hand slowly and setting it gently on Dawes’ chest. He leaned in and murmured a long string of words into her ear that Alex couldn’t quite make out before he pulled away and straightened.</p><p>“It’s done. She’ll be in a kind of sleeping state for as long as necessary until I wake her up from it.”</p><p>Alex turned from him only to see Dawes’ dissertation notecards on the floor arranged in their careful rows. The sight made her want to pick something up and smash it against the wall with all her might. Instead of doing that, she played over the last words Dawes had spoken into the phone.</p><p>“It sounded like she knew whoever she was talking to. She was surprised to see them.”</p><p>Darlington made an interested noise. “Someone wanted her outside of the house’s wards in order to remove that layer of protection.”</p><p>“It must have been Vinia. But why would Dawes open the door? And how did that bitch get around the <i>garde</i>? I thought it was supposed to protect us from anything she could throw at us.” She pulled out her phone and began to jab her thumb angrily against its screen before holding it to her ear.</p><p>“What are you doing?” Darlington asked her, but he cut himself off when she slashed her hand through the air in a short gesture to silence him.</p><p>Vinia’s voice sounded almost immediately across the connection. “Hello? Alex, darling, is that you? What a delightful surprise.”</p><p>“Shut your fucking mouth and tell me what you did to Dawes,” Alex barked into the phone.</p><p>“Oh. Did you find her already? Such a shame about that. She seemed like a truly lovely girl.”</p><p>Alex did her best not to snarl. “I know where you live. If Dawes is hurt because of you, I won’t stop coming until you’re dead.”</p><p>“Very dramatic, but I’m afraid I’m no longer currently in residence at the loft. I’ve found better accommodations for the moment.”</p><p>Alex’s voice was sarcastic. “Staying with a friend?”</p><p>“Hm. Something like that.” Vinia paused. “Speaking of which, I suspect it’s down to just you and your demon at this point. Keep an eye on that one. They’re an unpredictable lot. Take my word for it.”</p><p>“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.” Alex said.</p><p>Vinia gave a long sigh. “Don’t I? You know, I so wanted to work with you, Alex. However, I understand you met with the Societies’ Board tonight. I’m quite put out about it. It seemed like we’d come to an understanding. I was sure you’d be on my side of things instead of going back to them.” She tsked, and it made Alex want to commit murder. “Just remember they’re not your allies, either. In fact, I’m sure the Board would be quite interested to know about your friend and where exactly he comes from.”</p><p>For once, Alex couldn’t think of anything to say in return. Vinia laughed again. “Well, it’s been fun chatting, but I have things to do.”</p><p>Alex found her voice then, and she couldn’t hold back a smirk. “Amulets to find? Good luck with that.” The silence down the line from Vinia’s end was extremely satisfying. </p><p>Darlington caught her attention and shook his head sharply, but Alex was too angry not to forge ahead. “I’m coming for you, Vinia, and I’m going to make you wish you’d never come to this goddamn town.”</p><p>The woman cleared her throat finally. “If it’s going to be like that, I would strongly advise you to watch your back, my dear.”</p><p>“Oh, I intend to. And you’d better watch yours because I’m right behind you.” Alex pulled the phone away from her ear and jabbed the button to end the call.</p><p>“Do you think it was wise to poke a hornet’s nest like that?” Darlington asked in a long-suffering tone.</p><p>“I doubt it, but it was really goddamn satisfying.”</p><p>Darlington rubbed a hand over his face. “Subtlety has never been your strong suit.”</p><p>“So if she’s not at her house, then where is she? Can we track her again?”</p><p>Darlington closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were the flat black that still sent a shiver down her spine. He tilted his head, his brow furrowing. “I don’t sense her, no. I had the power source identified when we drove to her home. It’s very strange that I can’t pinpoint where she is now.”</p><p>“Do you think it has to do with whatever she did to you back outside her apartment?”</p><p>“That’s my assumption. She could very well have put a compulsion on me to shield herself from my interference.”</p><p>“So can she order you around now?” Alex asked with a start.</p><p>“I don’t believe so. I am still bound to you, after all. Do you sense anything amiss between us?”</p><p>Alex tried to feel along the sinuous, buzzing hum between them that urged her to close the gap between them. “It feels the same as it always does,” she admitted, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.</p><p>“It feels the same for me as well,” he said, and his eyes glowed with invitation.</p><p>She tried to brush off the instinct to draw closer to him. “Well, that’s something. I’m wondering who her accomplice is. It was somebody Dawes knew, but in relation to me.” Alex frowned. “That kind of narrows it down but it could be anyone from someone in the Societies to someone I know from somewhere else at the school. The only people I can safely rule out are you and my roommates.”</p><p>“I’m glad to be included in that short list,” Darlington said with a small smile.</p><p>“What now, then? If you can’t track her, then I’m not sure what else to do.”</p><p>“Perhaps one of your Grays could be called upon to set a watch. The Bridegroom could possibly make himself useful for a change.”</p><p>“Maybe. I feel like she’ll be prepared for that since she knows what I can do, though.” She glanced down at the box in her hands. “How do we even use this thing, anyway? I’m guessing it doesn’t come with an instruction manual.”</p><p>Darlington shook his head. “I’m afraid I don’t know. My sense is to <i>not</i> use it if we can help it. There are ways we could find out more about it, though.”</p><p>“You think there’ll be a book in the library?”</p><p>“Doubtful. I had something a bit more esoteric in mind.” At her questioning look, he said slowly, “You could conceivably engage in sending your spirit abroad and seeing what impressions and resonances have been left in the stone.”</p><p> Alex frowned. “The last time I ‘sent my spirit abroad’ I had to die to get behind the curtain like I did to talk with North. I’m not too keen on that unless I absolutely have to.”</p><p>Darlington watched her carefully as if gauging her response. “There are other ways, although I am loathe to mention them.”</p><p>“Like what?”</p><p>“We could take a page from Acacia’s book and turn to psychoactives.”</p><p>Alex stared at him. “You want me to do drugs? Seriously?”</p><p>“Hallucinogens mixed with the energy I can provide through our bond would be a potent combination and could thrust you beyond the Veil.” He frowned. “It’s dangerous, though. Thus my being loathe to suggest it.”</p><p>Blowing out a long breath, Alex said, “We have to come up with something to stop her, and I’d prefer to do it before she tries something with me. I don’t want to be stuck in this house worrying about if I’m going to be hijacked if I ever leave again. Knowing what she wants the amulet for seems kind of important.”</p><p>Darlington nodded. “Very well. I would suggest eating something, then. Taking the concoction on an empty stomach will be unpleasant for everyone involved.”</p><p>“You’re the expert. What are you going to do?”</p><p>“I need to gather materials from the Armory, and then I’ll join you.”</p><p>Alex turned to go then paused before facing him once more. “I do trust you, you know. You’ve been in my head and sometimes you’re shady as shit, but I’m putting my faith in you. Don’t let me down.”</p><p>“I will try not to disappoint you,” he said, looking pleased.</p><p>She wandered to the kitchen, and as she did so the house’s stereo system started up. She smiled, knowing it was Darlington’s doing. It was something incredibly dramatic, beginning with a prolonged shriek that rang through her head and through the hallway. There were blaring trumpets and crashing cymbals echoing around her. She decided the soundtrack would have to work as music to pump her up before doing something that was probably incredibly stupid.</p><p>The kitchen counters were clean, but one of Dawes’ plates of sandwiches rested in the fridge just like when Aled had come back from her nights out with the Societies and the Grays. Alex’s stomach dropped at the sight. She had to believe they could defeat Vinia and reawaken Michelle and Dawes. The first step would be figuring out what she wanted and then finding the bitch. Alex would think of what to do with her as well as the amulet once she’d tracked Vinia down. </p><p>Unwrapping the pile of sandwiches, she pulled one free and took a bite. The taste of lox, cream cheese, and capers exploded on her tongue, and she moaned in delight. She inhaled two of them before slowing down. It had been too long since dinner with Darlington. The thought made her pause. What could she even make of the rest of her day? A date, an irritating session with the Board, a weird kind of love triangle, and now Dawes’ attack. That was more wrapped up in one day than she could remember since the dark days of the previous Spring semester.</p><p>Darlington appeared in the doorway carrying a cup. He gestured for her to follow him by nodding his head towards the stairs.</p><p>“Where are we doing this, anyway?” Alex asked. “My room or yours?”</p><p>“Wherever you like.”</p><p>“My room it is, then.”</p><p>She walked up the stairs before him, and a shiver of nervous energy ran through her. People were depending on her, and that wasn’t something she was used to. It had taken twenty-one years for it to be her reality. Better late than never, she supposed, but it still weighed heavily on her. Nevertheless, she felt lifted by the thought that she still had Darlington to rely on beside her, so Alex gathered up her courage as she took a step towards the unknown.</p>
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